All language subtitles for Historys.Greatest.Machines.with.Dolph.Lundgren.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[pensive music]

[dramatic music]

- [Dolph] We've all watched
spies in movies

with their cool gadgets,

but what do real spies
use to defeat their enemies?

As it turns out, sometimes
real life beats the movies.

Tonight, a spy plane built
to fly faster than missiles.

- This new design
is going to depend

on nothing more than raw jet
fuel-powered muscle and speed.

[dramatic music]

- And a coding machine
seemingly impossible to break.

- Certainly, when
it's first introduced,

there is no solution.

[dramatic music]

- Plus, the gun that perfects
the untraceable assassination.

- Long-range, silent-firing,
untraceable toxin.

I mean, Jason Bourne
wishes he had this gun.

[dramatic music]

- I'm Dolph Lundgren.

On screen, I'm all
about the action.

But off screen, I have
degrees in engineering.

I even studied at MIT.

I learned that machines
and the people behind them

can transform the world.

Join me as I explore the
gears, grit, and genius

behind history's
greatest machines.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

During the Cold War, the US
develops a plane so top secret

that its pilots are
given a suicide pill

in case they're captured.

Its name even
inspires a rock band.

[dramatic music]
[rocket rumbling]

- It's 1953, the Cold War,

and the United States
and the Soviet Union

are scrambling for access

to the most valuable
commodity in the world,

information on each
other's activities.

- In the 1950s, most spy
planes are converted bombers

that have been
outfitted with cameras

in order to capture
targets on the ground.

But these planes don't
have the altitude or range

to evade Soviet defenses.

- [Dolph] Between 1950 and 1952,

Soviet air defenses
killed 22 American pilots

flying surveillance missions.

The Air Force wants a plane

able to fly at a
whopping 70,000 feet,

higher than they think
Soviet missiles can reach.

- The US knows that if
you need an aircraft

that can perform like that,

you're going to have to turn

to the advanced development
projects division

of Lockheed Aircraft, also
known as the Skunk Works.

- [Natalia] Skunk Works is the
nickname for the elite team

led by Clarence Kelly Johnson,

an absolute legend
in airplane design.

- [Dolph] Johnson and
his team at Skunk Works

submit the proposal
to the Air Force

for a very different
kind of jet.

- Johnson believes he
can create an aircraft

that can fly above 70,000 feet,

but the initial
design has no wheels

and this aircraft could
never be combat capable.

- It's just a few minutes
into the presentation

when a senior Air Force
general interrupts and says,

"We're not interested in this."

And that's it.

- [Dolph] But another
group sees the potential.

- [Natalia] The newly
established Central Intelligence

Agency gets a look at the plans.

They love them.

So with President
Eisenhower's approval,

the CIA becomes the only agency
allowed to fly these planes.

- [John] It's a very strategic
move by Eisenhower.

If this new aircraft isn't
technically a military plane,

then he can claim it's for
observation, not aggression.

This will be very important
in case things go wrong.

[dramatic music]

[rhythmic music]

- [Dolph] Meet the famous U-2.

- [Andrew] Everything about this
aircraft

is designed to fly
at high altitude.

It's 63-feet long with
102-foot wing span.

It's a glider with a jet engine.

- [Kavitha] In order to create
the lightest airframe possible,

Kelly Johnson strips out
traditional landing gear

and a lot of the
structural reinforcements.

There's zero armor, so it's
high risk and high reward.

- [John] Kelly Johnson designs
the U-2

with minimalist landing gear,

just two wheels in line along
the bottom of the fuselage

like a bicycle.

- [Andrew] The pilot has to
bring the U-2

about two feet above the ground

and slowly, gradually land it.

Otherwise, the landing
gear will buckle.

- Every U-2 landing

is essentially a
controlled crash landing.

It's especially
stressful for the pilot.

- [Dolph] But it's worth it
because the high flying U-2

can see everything.

- [Martin] The aircraft is
packed with state-of-the-art

equipment and special sensors.

The cameras on board
the aircraft are so good

that they can focus on an
area that's one foot wide.

That's like reading
a license plate

from 14 miles in the air.

- [Andrew] The camera system can
take a 72-mile-wide image.

That's a horizon
to horizon picture

of secret military bases
and weapons testing sites,

whatever's needed.

- [John] If there's cloud cover
or extreme weather,

the U-2 carries advanced radar.

That radar system
records terrain

and tracks moving objects
even in extreme weather.

[dramatic music]

- [Dolph] The U-2 also has
a state-of-the-art system

that warns the pilot if
his plane's been spotted.

- [Martin] It's called
signals intelligence

and it pays attention
to radar usage

and radio communications
so that you can tell

how the enemy is looking
around with radar

and then what the
enemy is saying.

- [Natalia] Bottom line, this is
like James Bond in a jet plane.

It's cool-looking,
it's hard to handle,

and it's like the best spy ever.

- [Dolph] If you think you have
the right stuff to fly U-2,

you have to prove it.

- [Andrew] U-2 pilots are some
of the most elite

and skilled pilots
in the US Air Force.

They also have to qualify
for high altitude operations

and pressure suit operations.

Then they go through a
significant background check

in order to clear them
for top secret operations.

- [John] If they're selected,

they have to resign
from the Air Force

in order to fly this plane.

Only civilians can fly the U-2.

And remember, the
Soviets have shot down

a half dozen US planes
in the 1950s alone.

It's why the CIA offers
pilots a suicide pill.

- [Martin] U-2 drivers are
initially provided

with a cyanide tablet
that they can take

to prevent themselves from
falling into the enemy's hands.

Later on, they'll be
issued a silver dollar

with a hollowed out
cavity in the middle

that contains a
needle-bearing saxitoxin,

something that's so toxic a
dose the size of a grain of salt

can kill you in minutes.

[pensive music]

[pensive music]

- [Dolph] In June, 1956,

President Eisenhower approves
the first overflights

of the Soviet Union.

The goal?

Spy on bomber bases
and missile sites.

- [Kavitha] Authorizing these
flights is a big deal.

It's against international law,
so if something goes wrong,

it could start a whole new war.

That's a lot of
pressure on this plane.

- [Martin] As the CIA prepares
the U-2

for its first
overflight mission,

it assures President Eisenhower

that the aircraft
flies too high,

that it can't be
tracked by radar,

and it can't be intercepted
by surface-to-air missiles

or Soviet fighters.

It turns out they're
only half right.

- [David] The first U-2 Soviet
flyover occurs on July 4th,

and the Soviets immediately
track the plane.

They launch MiG-19 interceptors
and ready their weapons.

- [Natalia] The U-2 is flying
at 70,000 feet.

This is miles above
what any Soviet missile

or fighter jet can reach.

- [David] The U-2 pilot
actually complains

about Soviet fighters
blocking their photos

when swarming below them.

They're more in the
way than anything else.

The U-2 is being photo-bombed
by jets with missiles.

- [Dolph] Because they
can't shoot the thing down,

the Soviets keep
the U-2 a secret.

- [John] The Soviets can't
admit that the US

has a superior spy plane that
they're helpless to stop.

It makes them look weak.

- [Martin] U-2 overflights
photograph military bases,

missile launch sites,
and troop movements.

The information gathered on
these missions is invaluable.

[pensive music]

- [Dolph] Then in October, 1956,

the U-2 even prevents a war.

- [Martin] England, France, and
Israel

are about to go to war with
Egypt over the Suez Canal.

Whoever controls the canal

controls the flow of Middle
Eastern oil to Europe.

- [John] The Soviets threatened
to step in and back Egypt.

President Eisenhower sees
this as a potential catalyst

for another world war and warns
the British not to invade.

- [Dolph] But England and France

claim the Egyptians are building
up forces around the canal.

The US deploys the U-2
to see if it's true.

- [Andrew] The U-2 tracks troop
buildups on both sides in real

time, providing sweeps every 10
minutes of the entire region.

- [Martin] The information
that the U-2s gather

proves that there's
no true buildup

and that it's all just a bluff.

- [John] Eisenhower then
threatens the British

and French with sanctions,
and everybody backs down,

but none of this happens

without critical intel
from the U-2 spy plane.

- [Dolph] While all
this is going on,

the Soviets are thinking of ways

to take down the U-2 the next
time they see one over Russia.

- [Martin] The Soviets have
been perfecting

a new generation of
surface-to-air missiles

just for an aircraft
like the U-2.

[pensive music]

- [Dolph] On May 1st, 1960,

a brand new model of Soviet
surface-to-air missile

shoots down U-2 pilot Gary
Powers over Russian airspace.

- [John] Incredibly, Powers is
able to deploy his shoot

at 15,000 feet.

- [Andrew] The Soviets put
Powers on trial as an

American spy.

And they actually
accuse the United States

of committing
international crimes,

flying missions
over their country.

- [Dolph] Then things get worse.

On October 27th, 1962,

the tensest day of the
Cuban Missile Crisis,

another U-2 pilot is shot
down and killed over Cuba.

- [David] Major Rudolph Anderson
Jr, flying at 72,000 feet,

is struck by a Soviet
SA-2 Guideline Missile

fired from a Cuban
missile battery.

- [Dolph] The U-2 took
spy work to new heights,

but with the danger mounting,
it's time for a change.

- [Dolph] After two U-2s are
shut down,

the US intelligence
community in Pentagon

decide they can't afford
any more headlines.

So the Air Force goes back

to Skunk Works
legend Kelly Johnson

to engineer a spy plane
that's untouchable.

[dramatic music]

- [Andrew] Even after years of
success with the U-2,

Johnson and the Skunk Works team

know that this is a big ask.

They need to push the
boundaries of aviation

to create something
that is untouchable.

[dramatic music]

- [Dolph] Two years later,
Skunk Works has an answer.

Even the Air Force guys
haven't seen anything like it.

[rhythmic music]

- Whereas the U-2 spy plane
employed flight characteristics

that are much more
like a glider,

this new design is going
to depend on nothing more

than raw, jet fuel-powered
muscle and speed.

[dramatic music]

- [Andrew] The SR-71 is 107 feet
long,

with a wingspan
that's only 55 feet.

The SR-71 has two different
propulsion systems

that push it past Mach 3,

which is 2,200 miles per hour,

four times faster than the U-2.

- The first engine is a
traditional jet turbine.

It gets the aircraft
up to cruising speed.

It gets it off the ground.

But then, when it hits
600 miles per hour,

the real magic happens.

[SR-71 roaring]

- At the right speed,

the SR-71 converts to
something like a ramjet.

And I'd like to say that ramjet

is a fancy acronym for
something technical,

but really what it is,

the engine is literally running

by ramming air down a funnel.

- [Dolph] The ramjet
squeezes air into the engine,

adds fuel, lights it up, and
it goes off like a rocket.

It allows the SR-71 to
hit speeds of Mach 3.2,

making it the fastest
manned plane ever.

- [David] It weighs 25
tons without fuel.

With fuel, it is 63 tons.

That means, by weight,
this plane is 60% jet fuel.

- The ramjets on the SR-71
are notorious gas guzzlers.

When in use, they only get
about 90 minutes of flight time

before needing to
be refueled midair.

- [Martin] That's a flight from
New York

to Los Angeles in 90 minutes.

- [Dolph] Going that fast
creates so much friction

it's titanium skin
gets incredibly hot.

- [Martin] One of the things
that Kelly Johnson

and his team will
have to compensate for

is the fact that the titanium
will have to expand in flight

at high temperatures.

- [David] The solution is
simple, leave gaps in the

airframe for the
metal to expand.

But remember, this plane
is mostly jet fuel.

- [Austin] Because of the gaps
in the titanium fuselage,

the SR-71 has what
the engineers call

an acceptable jet fuel leakage.

- [David] Even with sealants,
the SR-71 leaks on the runway,

and during takeoff,

and while it's climbing
to supersonic speeds.

- [Austin] It's as if you had
a car that leaked gas

while puttering around town,

but that's okay
because it seals up

the second you hit
highway speeds.

- [Dolph] But remember,
the goal is untouchable,

so the Skunk Works team
flattened the jet's edges

and adds a new coat of paint
to reduce its radar signature.

- [Austin] The engineers devise
a high-tech paint

that solves a
multitude of issues.

Firstly, it reduces the
Blackbird radar

signature by 95%.

- [Dolph] And that's where it
gets that

nickname, the black paint.

The engineers fit it with
the best surveillance tech,

and one year later it's
ready for active duty.

- [Andrew] The SR-71 starts
flying international missions in

1967 over countries like
Vietnam, North Korea,

Libya, Russia, Cuba.

For a couple of decades, it
operates exactly as advertised.

- [Dolph] SR-71 pilots even
lean in to intimidation tactics,

like making sonic booms
over enemy parades.

The pilots nickname it
the sound of freedom.

[dramatic music]

Then in April, 1986,

Libyan terrorists
bombed a club in Berlin.

- [Martin] The attack kills
three people,

two of them are US
service members,

and then wounds 79 other people.

- [Andrew] In response to the
bombing,

President Reagan
authorizes airstrikes

against the Libyan cities
of Benghazi and Tripoli.

[jet engine roaring]

The SR-71 is tapped
to follow the bombers

and document the
damage after it's done.

- [Austin] Brian Shul is a
veteran Blackbird pilot.

And as he approaches Libyan
airspace, his sensors go off.

The radar is locked on.

Surface-to-air missiles
are about to follow.

- [Martin] These are next
generation

Soviet-built
surface-to-air missiles

capable of moving at Mach 5.

- [Austin] Shul can see the
smoke from the missiles

nipping at his heels.

They're faster and
they're gaining.

This could be a disaster.

Shul steps on the
gas, so to speak.

- [David] Pushing the plane
passes recorded top speed of

Mach 3.2 Shul reports hitting
Mach 3.5, one mile every second.

Thanks to Shul's quick reaction,
the SR-71 barely escapes.

The missiles run out of
gas and fall back to Earth.

[dramatic music]

- [Dolph] In a 30-year career

through more than 4,000
recorded missile encounters,

the SR-71 is never shot down.

It earns the title Untouchable.

- [Martin] The SR-71 really
breaks the mold of a spy plane.

[dramatic music]

All of the technology that it
took to propel the aircraft

at speeds greater than
Mach 3, it was something

that influences contemporary
aviation design even now.

- [Dolph] The Blackbird
flies high and fast

to spy on America's enemies,

but another kind of bird
does the same thing,

only it goes low and slow.

All it takes is a
major breakthrough in

miniature technology and a
flock of pigeons.

[dramatic music]

- It's the 1970s and
the Cold War is raging.

Spy planes rule the
upper atmosphere,

but for all their magnification,

there's just some intel
that they can't collect.

The CIA needs an asset
that can penetrate deep

into enemy territory
and facilities,

gather intel, and
return home undetected.

It's a big ask, but the CIA is
willing to take a big swing.

- [Dolph] It's called
Operation Tacana.

And the idea is to set
homing pigeons loose

behind the Iron Curtain.

The catch is these
pigeons are outfitted

with automatic cameras.

[dramatic music]

[rhythmic music]

- [Andrew] The CIA's pigeon
camera is small, 1.8 inches

long, less than an inch
wide, and very thin,

measuring only 3/4 of an inch.

That means you can
put it on a pigeon

and the pigeon can
still fly normally,

even though it's carrying
one of the best cameras

available at the time.

- Each one costs about $2,000.

It has a great lens
and a tiny motor

that advances ultra thin film.

So it can take something like
200 black and white photos

or 140 color photos.

- [Natalia] Using lightweight
straps,

the camera is affixed to
the breast of the pigeon,

with the lens pointed
towards the target

so it can shoot well in flight.

- [Hakeem] An operative releases
a pigeon outfitted with the

camera near an intelligence
target, like an embassy,

a military base, or even a park.

- [Dolph] Because the pigeons
can get right up to a target,

their surveillance
photos capture

exceptionally high detail.

- [Andrew] The images it picks
up are so clear

that you can
actually read writing

as small as 3/4 of an inch.

In comparison, a spy satellite

a hundred miles above the
Earth is capturing images

that are two feet per pixel.

That means that a
good spy satellite

might tell the difference
between a car or a truck,

but a pigeon camera allows you

to actually read the documents
sitting on the dashboard

behind the windshield.

- [Dolph] The CIA starts
training flocks of birds

in California, Oklahoma,
and North Carolina.

- [Sami] However, some of these
tests go pretty badly

because despite
all the training,

sometimes these pigeons
don't fly to where

or for how long
the handlers want.

- [Hakeem] Wind, predators,
a sudden noise,

even a distraction
can divert the pigeons

from their intended targets.

- [Dolph] Plus, what
happens if the homing pigeon

never comes home?

- [Sami] You can imagine the
panic that sets in

if a pigeon doesn't come back.

What happened to the pigeon?

Did somebody capture it?

Did somebody capture the camera?

Who has the film?

- [Dolph] In the end,

the pigeon camera's
groundbreaking contribution

is that its miniature tech
becomes a building block

for later spy cameras,

though the details
are still a secret.

- [Andrew] Much of Operation
Tacana is still classified

and there's no official record

of the mission ever
being shut down.

That means that could still
be alive around us every day.

So the next time you
see a flock of pigeons,

take a close look and see
if they aren't wearing

a small bow tie
with a small camera.

- [Dolph] Its name literally
means mystery.

During World War II, this device
of deception is so powerful

and so ahead of its time

that it almost
helps Germany win.

Almost.

[pensive music]

- It's the second half of 1918

and Germany is losing World
War I for a number of reasons,

one of which is that
enemy code breakers

can listen to the
radio transmissions

and break the code.

Allied code breakers

know just as well as
German field commanders

what the secret orders say.

[dramatic music]

- [Dolph] A German engineer
and inventor sees the problem

and thinks he has a solution.

- Arthur Scherbius makes
all kinds of things,

motors, electric pillows.

He's definitely a
jack of all trades.

But he's aware of how
vulnerable radio broadcasts are.

- [Martin] Scherbius patents
an electromechanical

enciphering device, a machine
that he calls Enigma.

- The appeal is simple.

The Enigma machine makes it

so that nobody can
intercept a message

unless it's intended for them.

They have to have
the same machine

and a daily changing code
book that allows them

to decipher the message
that comes across.

Otherwise, anybody
would only see

a nonsensical string of letters.

- [Dolph] It's not long
before the entire Wehrmacht,

the German armed forces,

realizes how powerful
this device is.

They adopt it across the board.

[dramatic music]

- The machine looks
like what you get

if you crossed a typewriter
and a cash register.

The way it works is you
press a key, like an A,

but instead of an A lighting up,

another letter would, like an M.

- [Martin] Electromechanical
impulses

go through a series
of three rotors,

each rotor with 26 settings,

one for each letter
in the alphabet.

- When you press a key,
the electrical current

then makes its way
through all three rotors.

And then like an odometer,

at least one of the
rotors advances.

So with every keystroke,
the signal changes.

And as a result, you
get a different letter.

So for instance, if you
press A twice in a row,

it's going to convert
the second one

to a completely different
letter than the first.

- [Martin] On the front of
the Enigma machine

is a plug board with 10
separate plug settings

that will affect
pairs of letters.

So A becomes G or M becomes Z.

- [David] Basically, the odds
of decoding this machine

is 150 million million

million to 1.

- [Dolph] By the 1930s,
other nations began to worry

about Germany's powerful cipher.

[pensive music]

- [David] When World War II
breaks out,

the British have already
been trying on their own

to break the Enigma machine.

Their code breaking center

is a place called
Bletchley Park,

and it has some of the most
outstanding intellectual talent

in the world.

One of the most brilliant minds

is a man by the
name of Alan Turing,

who is recruited specifically
to attack the Enigma machine.

- [Martin] What Turing invents

is an electromechanical
deciphering device

that they call the Bombe device.

The Bombe device can
run through thousands

of potential plug board
and rotor settings

far quicker than a human can,

to evaluate whether or not
they are the actual plug board

and rotor settings
that calendar day.

- [Dolph] By the summer
of 1941, the Bombe,

combined with captured
Enigma materials,

allows the British

to regularly decipher
German communications.

- [Natalia] They give the
intelligence the code

name Ultra.

Now the Allies can read
the German's communication,

sometimes even in real time.

- [Martin] By cracking Enigma,
it gives the Allies

the ability to route convoy
traffic away from areas

where U-boat wolf
packs are operating,

thereby ensuring that
they'll safely reach ports

in the United Kingdom.

- [Dolph] The Allies'
good luck in the Atlantic

makes the Germans suspicious.

In February, 1942,
they changed the Enigma

from a three-rotor
device to four rotors.

[pensive music]

- [David] Now, the impact of
this cannot be understated.

The four rotor takes those
odds to some ungodly number,

92 septillion to 1,

million billion
trillion quadrillion

quintillion
sextillion septillion.

This is why the
Germans don't suspect

that anyone will have the
capability of breaking it.

And certainly, when
it's first introduced,

there is no solution.

And Bletchley Park goes dark.

[pensive music]

- [Dolph] The British need a
miracle or another code book.

They realize the only way
they're probably getting one

is to rip it out of the hands
of a German who's using it.

[pensive music]

- [John] An RAF patrol spots a
German submarine, the U-559,

north of the Nile Delta.

Royal Navy destroyers chase it

and damage it with
depth charges.

It's forced to the surface

and the crew abandon ship

without destroying the
cryptographic materials.

- [David] Three members of
the British Royal Navy

are able to board the
U-559 as it's sinking.

On their last journey
down, the ship goes under.

The two men below decks
are never seen again,

but the third one does escape

and gets back to
the British ship.

- [Martin] The ship then gets
the material back to England.

England gets the material
to Bletchley Park.

Not only are they
back in business,

but they are capable
of now deciphering

the four-rotor Enigma.

[dramatic music]

For the remainder of the war,

Bletchley Park is, on a
regular and reliable basis,

capable of breaking through
Enigma codes every day.

- [Dolph] The ability
to read German messages

even plays an important
role in D-Day.

- [John] Before the Normandy
invasion in 1944,

Ultra confirms that Hitler
believes the main Allied landing

is going to come at Calais
rather than Normandy.

This gives senior Allied
military commanders confidence

that they're going to
be able to pull off

the Normandy landings.

- [Andrew] By the end of the war
in 1945,

this unbreakable Enigma
machine is fully exploited.

What was designed to be a
secret tool for the Nazis

to guarantee their victory has
been exploited to the point

where it's guaranteed
an Allied victory.

- During all those years,
the CIA and KGB square off.

Both sides try to perfect the
technology of eavesdropping.

The CIA wants a
surveillance machine

that can literally
be a fly on the wall.

And to do it, they need
to invent something

decades ahead of its time.

[pensive music]

- The CIA doesn't wanna
just see what's going on.

They have spy planes for that.

They wanna listen in on
top secret Soviet meetings.

So they turn to bugs.

- [Andrew] Audio bugs are tiny
listening devices

that can be planted anywhere.

To avoid them, the KGB
starts meeting outdoors

and never in the
same place twice,

which makes it very difficult

for anyone to place a bug
and listen to a meeting.

- They need a new
listening device,

one that's mobile,
completely inconspicuous,

suited for the outdoors,
and delivers reliable audio.

- [Dolph] So in the early '70s,
the CIA assigns Don Reiser

from the Office of
Research and Development

the job of creating
a new outdoor bug,

specifically one that
looks like a dragonfly.

- He and his team come up

with a brand new, unmanned,
flying-listening device

that's tiny.

Voila.

The Insectothopter is born.

[dramatic music]

- [Andrew] The Insectothopter is
two and a half inches long

and weighs just under a gram.

It is a massive improvement
in miniaturization.

- [Don] It's hard to overstate

how astounding the
scale of this tech is.

It's an engine,
laser sensor, wings

all weighing less than
a small paperclip.

- [Sami] The Insectothopter
is a listening device

that has no audio
equipment on it.

It has no microphone.

Instead, it listens with light.

- [Don] The CIA has perfected a
system

that can convert
light into sound.

By tracking how a
reflected beam changes,

they can hear through light.

- [Hakeem] Aim a laser at a
window and collect

the reflections.

Whenever someone on the other
side of the window talks,

it causes the window to
vibrate microscopically.

A sensor can collect
those vibrations

and convert them
back into sound.

- [Dolph] The trick
is in using something

called a retroreflector.

- [Sami] A retroreflector is
a special lens array

that bounces light right
back to its source.

- [Hakeem] Aim a light into a
cat's eyes and they glow.

The reason why is
because their eyes

are natural retroreflectors.

They reflect light back
without scattering it.

And Resier sees
this as the solution

to bugging the increasingly
frequent outdoor meetings.

- [Andrew] The biggest challenge

is how do you actually get
this obvious bundle of lenses

within range to listen
to an outdoor meeting?

- [Dolph] Hiding
the retroreflectors

in a bug shaped bug will blend
in perfectly outdoors,

but there's still a
lot to figure out.

- [Andrew] You can't just put
a bug on a trash can

and hope that the
KGB have a meeting

within listening distance
of that trash can.

You need the bug to actually fly

from location to
location and land

so it can listen
in on the targets.

- [Dolph] 600 feet of
flight becomes the goal.

At first, Resier
wants a bumblebee,

but one engineer proves the
dragonfly's stability in flight

by throwing a preserved
dragonfly like a paper airplane

and flying it across
an entire lab.

- [Hakeem] The Insectothopter
is able to mimic

actual dragonfly flight
by beating its wings

with a little gas-powered help.

- [Don] A single drop of fuel
creates tiny combustion bursts

to drive the wings,
just like a car engine.

- [Hakeem] Figuring out how to
mechanically imitate

a dragonfly's flight is huge,
but how do you control it?

Well, the answer is lasers.

- [Sami] There's a thin metal
strip on the dragonfly

that, when a beam
hits it, expands,

adjusting the fuel flow.

So an agent
basically can point a beam

of light at the device and
control it to wherever it

needs to go.

- [Andrew] If the dragonfly can
fly 600 feet and then land,

you're now listening in
on that secret meeting

and all of the intel is yours.

- [Dolph] In a lab setting,

the Insectothopter hits
all mission parameters.

It flies about 600
feet, lands on cue,

and transmits flawlessly.

- [Andrew] It's an incredible
proof of concept.

The miniaturized motor,
the laser-guided system,

the fact that the
audio sensors work,

everything performs
exactly as intended.

- [Hakeem] But the lab is
not the real world.

And guess what's out
in the real world?

Weather.

And even with the
smallest cross breeze,

the Insectothopter just
can't seem to stay on course.

- [Dolph] The bug
is simply too light

to survive real
world conditions.

The project is scrapped.

But that doesn't
mean it's a failure.

- [Hakeem] A gasoline-powered
micro-drone,

guided by lasers,
disguised as a dragonfly,

in 1972, that's not a
failure, that's a foundation.

It's a hint of bigger
things to come.

- [Dolph] The Cold War is a
golden age for spies

and a golden age
for catching them.

But what if you have
an ingenious device

that allows your spies

to communicate with each
other in public places

without the enemy ever knowing?

[pensive music]

- [Don] In the 1950s and '60s,

one of the big challenges
facing American spies

is how to receive real time
information while in public.

[pensive music]

- [Andrew] Anybody working at
the US Embassy in Moscow,

which is one of the primary
locations where CIA is embedded,

knows that on any given day

you'll have up to 20
different people tailing you.

It's estimated that the KGB

has 50,000 assets and
informants in Moscow alone.

- If you're a handler or a
case manager running an agent,

you still need to
get their intel

and know if a mission
is a go or not.

But if you meet face to face,

a KGB tail is going to make you.

So how do you get those
messages in public

without anyone knowing?

- Remember, there are
no cellphones, no texts,

no digital communications
of any kind.

- [Hakeem] If you want
real-time information,

your best bet in
the 1950s or '60s

is a private radio transmission,
like a walkie-talkie.

But the problem is those
are easily spotted.

- [Andrew] There are some small
radios that include ear pieces,

but a trained KGB operative

would know what
that is right away.

- [Dolph] The CIA
needs a receiver

so agents in the
field can receive

and listen to radio broadcasts

even when they're on the street,

something that doesn't
look like a walkie talkie

and doesn't have an earpiece.

- [Don] The CIA's Office
of Technical Services

works on the
problem and comes up

with an ingenious
solution, the pipe radio.

[dramatic music]

Engineers at Technical Services

conceal a miniature
radio receiver

inside the stem of a pipe.

That's only possible now
because of tiny transistors

which have replaced the
bulky, fragile vacuum tubes

of earlier radios.

- [Natalia] In the 1950s and
'60s in the US,

pipe smoking is at
an all time high.

Everyone from Bing Crosby to
Hugh Hefner to Walter Cronkite

is puffing away on one.

They're sophisticated,

but more importantly,
they're ordinary.

They're the perfect camouflage.

- [Andrew] The pipe also holds
up under scrutiny

if you're being searched
and somebody asks you

to pull everything
out of your pockets

or even show you the pipe.

It has no obvious
plugs or wires.

It's a super clean design.

- [Dolph] So how does a pipe

with no visible wires or
earpiece receive radio signals

an agent can actually hear?

- [Hakeem] The normal way we
hear sound

is through vibrations in the air

that enter into our ear
hole, vibrate our eardrum,

which then transmit those
vibrations into our brain,

where it's then translated.

- [Don] With something
called bone conduction,

you skip the eardrum entirely.

When the agent bites
down on the pipe,

those vibrations travel
through his teeth and jaw

straight into the inner ear.

The brain still gets the signal.

It just feels like it's coming
from inside his own head.

- [Natalia] It's the same effect
as when you plug your ears,

but you can still
hear your own voice,

or if you're crunching
something like potato chips

and they're so
loud in your head.

That's bone conduction.

- [Andrew] The pipe radio also
makes it possible for leadership

to communicate in real
time to a field operator,

giving them changes in
orders, nuanced intel,

some kind of new direction.

And they do it all
without the use of paper

or any kind of encryption
right in front of the enemy.

- [Dolph] But the pipe
radio has a limitation.

- [Hakeem] The biggest drawback
to the pipe radio

is that you can't
fill it with tobacco

because the sensitive receiver
inside would be damaged.

Don't even think
about lighting it up.

- [Andrew] It's like hiding a
small camera in a pack of

cigarettes, but there aren't any
cigarettes in the pack.

So it looks good
at surface level,

but it's not a hundred
percent foolproof.

- [Natalia] The pipe radio is
also only a receiver.

The agent can
listen to messages,

but he can't respond to them
unless he uses other means.

- [Dolph] Intelligence ops
that use the pipe radio

are still classified,

but that doesn't mean
it stayed in the lab.

- [Andrew] We know from
declassified training documents

that the pipe radio was
included as a cover item

available to operators
before they deploy.

That suggests that the tool
was actually live in the field

and that those operations
where it was used

remain classified to this day.

- [Dolph] It's the holy grail
of shadow operations,

the untraceable assassination,

a killing stroke
so well disguised

it looks like natural causes.

No, it's not fiction.

It's an actual weapon
invented by the CIA

guaranteed to give any
enemy a heart attack.

[pensive music]

- [Don] It's a fall day in
Munich.

A Ukrainian revolutionary
leader living in exile

enters an office building.

Minutes later, the
Ukrainian dies.

But his death is ruled
to be of natural causes.

- Everyone believes
the Ukrainian died

of a heart attack.

But in 1961, there's a
media bombshell.

A man named Bohdan Stashynsky

turns himself in to US
officials in West Berlin.

Cameras are allowed
in open court,

where he confesses to the
murder of the Ukrainian leader

on behalf of the Soviet
intelligence agency, the KGB.

- [Don] The crazy part
of the confession

is the gun Stashynsky describes.

It blows a small puff of cyanide
gas into a target's face,

bringing on many of the same
symptoms of a heart attack.

- Nobody likes to admit it,

but assassinations
are part of the game.

And if you can kill somebody
with plausible deniability,

that makes it even more useful.

The United States at
the peak of the Cold War

wants to get their
hands on this device

because they've been
creating something similar.

[pensive music]

- [Dolph] CIA
engineers want to learn

from this KGB prototype and
build their own version.

- [Don] The CIA comes up with
a list of things to do

to upgrade this as a weapon.

They need an untraceable
toxin, long-range capabilities,

and an improved poison
delivery system.

That's the recipe for an
improved heart attack gun.

[pensive music]

- [Dolph] The CIA hands off the
first part of the assignment

to an unlikely agent.

- Mary Embree gets a job
right out of high school

at the CIA, working in a
little known department

called the Technical
Services Division.

In 1969, Mary's job
is to identify a toxin

that can mimic the
effects of a heart attack

while leaving no trace behind.

Embree reads a large
number of technical reports

and research papers
about toxic chemicals,

but she ends up settling

on a naturally occurring
poison called saxitoxin.

- [Dolph] It's the perfect
match for the mission.

- [Don] Saxitoxin is a substance

secreted by
algae-infested shellfish,

like mussels,
clams, and oysters.

It attacks neurons
and causes the muscles

that allow you to
breathe to seize up.

It's one of the deadliest
neurotoxins ever discovered.

- [Andrew] Saxitoxin also breaks
down very quickly.

So while it's very potent,

it's gone in just
a matter of hours.

- [Dolph] Embree has
picked her poison.

So what's the next
component agency engineers

have to figure out for
the heart attack gun?

The gun.

[pensive music]

- [Jason] They house it in
a Colt 1911 pistol.

And it has a battery-powered
firing mechanism

that makes almost no sound.

So because it's not firing
a.45 caliber round,

all you hear is [imitates
puff] as you pull the trigger.

- [Martin] The firing mechanism
and an optional telescopic sight

give the heart attack gun

an effective range of
just over 300 feet.

- [Andrew] When you fire the
gun, a frozen dart of saxitoxin

penetrates the skin.

Within just a few seconds,

that saxitoxin melts
into the bloodstream

and starts to attack the
central nervous system.

Minutes later, the
whole body seizes up

and dies from what looks like
an unfortunate heart attack.

- [Jason] Because the entry
wound is so small,

there's almost no chance
a medical examiner

would even see it,

let alone connect it to
the real cause of death.

- [Don] Long-range,
silent-firing,

untraceable toxin.

I mean, Jason Bourne
wishes he had this gun.

[dramatic music]

- [Dolph] This is
a top secret weapon

developed by the most
secret wing of the CIA.

So how do we all know about it?

The answer?

Congress.

- [Andrew] CIA and other
intelligence agencies

are caught spying on Americans
and Congress is furious.

In response, they demand
access to spy operations

that were previously classified.

- [Natalia] A Senate select
committee is formed

to investigate how the
FBI and CIA operate.

With Idaho senator
Frank Church presiding,

he brings the head of the CIA

to testify on
national television.

Never before have more
CIA secrets come to light.

- [Martin] Projects like the
heart attack gun

receive a full reckoning,
and the results are shocking.

[dramatic music]

- Does this pistol
fire the dart?

- [Respondent] Yes,
it does, Mr. Chairman.

- [Don] It's through these
hearings that we find out the

CIA didn't just make
the heart attack gun

for some day maybe.

They make a list of targets,

some of whom might find
themselves in the crosshairs

of the heart attack gun.

- [Martin] There are plans to
assassinate world leaders

using this weapon,

and they select Congolese
prime minister Patrice Lumumba

and Cuban president
Fidel Castro.

- [Andrew] Despite biological
weapons being banned in 1969,

CIA is discovered to be
holding saxitoxin in 1975

in Fort Detrick, Maryland

that could kill up
to 5,000 people.

- [Natalia] They're ordered to
destroy the toxin again.

So do they do it?

- I don't know.
Maybe.

- [Andrew] There are no official
records

of a heart attack
gun being used,

and the United States
has long since banned

any kind of biological weapon.

So we don't really
know the status

of what could be the most
effective assassination weapon

ever invented.

But in the spy game, a tool
that valuable gets buried deep.

[pensive music]

- [Dolph] In the world of
clandestine operations,

there's nothing more
valuable than a secret,

especially when your enemy
has no idea you know.

But in this war
fought in the shadows,

it takes the most high-tech
devices of deception

to not just steal secrets,
but to keep them safe.

[dramatic music]