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'Kamikaze dolphins'? Pentagon rejects Iran claims at briefing
May 5, 2026, 4:43 p.m. ETU.S. defense officials downplayed reports on Tuesday, May 5, that Iran has deployed so-called "kamikaze dolphins," while stopping short of addressing whether the U.S. uses marine mammals in military operations.Asked directly at a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he could not confirm or deny any U.S. capabilities involving dolphins but stressed there is no evidence Iran employs them. The moment came amid heightened naval tensions and renewed focus on maintaining safe passage for commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.Minutes before Hegseth took the mic, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine said he hadn't heard of "kamikaze dolphins.""It's like sharks with laser beams, right?" Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joked.Watch Hegseth address rumors about 'Kamikaze dolphins'"And I can't confirm or deny whether we have 'kamikaze dolphins,'" Hegseth said. "But I can confirm they don't."The use of marine mammals, specifically bottlenose dolphins, in military operations dates back to the late 1950s.According to the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, the Navy's Marine Mammal Program trains the dolphins to "detect, locate, mark and recover objects in harbors, coastal areas, and at depth in the open sea."Confirmation about if and when the Navy has used dolphins as "kamikazes" was not immediately available."Ultimately, any follow-on effort, if there are mines identified, would be something that some of our units could undertake, or the world could undertake. But right now, we know we have a lane of safe passage that commercial shipping can flow through," Hegseth added.USA TODAY has reached out to the NIWC Pacific for additional information.
The Pentagon Got Asked About 'Kamikaze Dolphins.' Here's How Dolphins ...
By Kelsey Baker You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. A US Navy handler assigned to the Marine Mammal Company's explosive ordnance disposal unit rewards a bottlenose dolphin following a training event. Petty Officer 1st Class Bruce Cummins/US Navy 2026-05-05T21:05:05.162Z Tuesday's Pentagon briefing took a different turn with a question on "kamikaze dolphins." Pentagon leaders dismissed reports that Iran possesses this capability. Dolphins have long been used by the US military for maritime surveillance and mine detection. During a Tuesday morning press briefing, Pentagon leaders fielded an out-of-the-ordinary query from a reporter seeking clarity on reports of Iran's military using "kamikaze dolphins." "I haven't heard the kamikaze dolphin thing," Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replied, wondering aloud if the idea was similar to "sharks with laser beams," a wry reference to the early-aughts' Austin Powers movies."I can't confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins," Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth added. "But I can confirm they don't," he said, referring to the Iranians.Following a Wall Street Journal report late last month that mentioned an Iranian threat to use a range of capabilities from submarines to mine-carrying dolphins against US warships, discussions of one-way attack dolphins have been circulating online.Rumors of Iranian "kamikaze dolphins" have been around for over two decades, stemming from reports that Tehran had bought dolphins that had been trained to attack ships and combat divers for the Soviet navy. While the Iranian armed forces may not have dolphins in their arsenal of combat capabilities, the US military has a long history with marine mammals, which are well-suited for tasks like locating underwater mines or alerting handlers to enemy swimmers. Dolphins are exceptionally intelligent animals, with a keen internal sonar system that makes them excellent mammalian sensors.The US has trained bottlenose dolphins to carry out a range of military tasks, from mine detection to harbor defense, and has been using them in a mix of missions since the late 1950s.A handful of these dolphins, for instance, were used briefly in the early 1970s to guard an Army pier in Vietnam, and others were deployed from a US base in Bahrain during the Tanker War in the 1980s to help protect US Navy vessels.The 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego used ...
Hegseth shoots down Iran 'kamikaze dolphins' — leaves US question open
The U.S. Navy has long trained marine mammals for missions such as detecting underwater mines and tracking divers, and Soviet programs during the Cold War experimented with more offensive uses.
Kamikaze dolphins in Iran? A brief history of dolphins in the military
Since 1959, the U.S. Navy's Marine Mammal Program has trained bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect mines and other underwater threats, conduct surveillance and locate and recover ...
