The US military is equipped with a number of stealthy underwater robots to spy on enemies, but these high-tech innovations come years after Charlie the robotic catfish.
Developed in the 1990s by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), this unmanned underwater vehicle is operated remotely using a line-of-sight audio and fitted with sensors to spy on adversaries, along with collecting water samples.
The ‘catfish’ is also designed with a pressure hull, ballast system and communication system in the main part of its body and propulsion system in the tail.
Details of Charlie’s missions are still classified, but the technology led engineers to design robotic submarines and other aquatic inspired machines to investigate the seas.