Artifact Details
Charlie was created to collect water samples without being detected.
CIA’s Office of Advanced Technologies and Programs developed the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) fish to study aquatic robot technology. Some of the specifications used to develop “Charlie” were:
- speed
- endurance
- maneuverability
- depth control
- navigational accuracy
- autonomy
- communications status.
The UUV fish contains a pressure hull, ballast system, and communications system in the body and a propulsion system in the tail. It is controlled by a wireless line-of-sight radio handset.
Artifact Specs
61 cm x 28 cm x 18 cm
(L x W x H)
Additional Photos
Video
The Debrief: Behind the Artifact - Charlie the Fish
The CIA uses all source intelligence. This means we’ll look at things like photographs from satellites or other cameras. We’ll use open source, which is looking at the news or things on the internet that are open to the public. We also use HUMINT, which is collecting intelligence from our human assets. And another thing that will take a look at is the environment to get another piece to our intelligence puzzle.
So knowing this, the CIA created a UUV, an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle and we made it a fish. Its name is Charlie and this is a partner Charlene. Some of Charlie’s capabilities include maneuverability, speed and depth control, autonomy, and radio communications. Charlie was controlled by a radio handset.
Say you’re interested in a group and you wanted to learn more about them. You can deploy Charlie into a river, he would swim upstream and collect a water sample, bring it back to CIA, and now our scientists can test it to see if there things like, nuclear run off or a biochemical agents present in the water. And now, thanks to Charlie, you have a better understanding of what’s going on in that specific place.