Russian scientists are hard at work engineering lab rats as part of an operation named 'Next Generation Warfare'.
The rodents would have microchips implanted in their brains that would allow the creatures to sniff out explosives or drugs in places unreachable by humans.
The trained rodents would alert their handlers to the dangerous or illegal material before they themselves have even had time to register it - because the scientists could monitor their brain waves.
However, it takes three months to train a rat properly to detect explosives and they only live for about a year on average.
This would mean that the scientists have to constantly prepare whole batches of rats to provide security forces with a new type of counter-terrorist operative, according to sources.
The scientists based in Rostov-on-Don, near the border with Ukraine, have still been given the greenlight to continue with the project that harnesses the rats' raptor neurons.
Also, because of their size, the rats could also be deployed in natural disasters to search in rubble and hunt our survivors.
Rats already have a better sense of smell than dogs and are used detect land mines in other parts of the world and in Israel to check people's luggage.
Dr Dmitry Medvedev, head of the project, said: "Unlike a dog, a rat can get through the smallest crack where it seems it couldn't go.
"This way it could find its way deep under rubble and by its brain activity one could understand if there are, for example, people who are still alive, if it's worth clearing debris here or at another place, to rescue people more quickly.
"Two to three months are needed in order to teach the animal to react to one substance while the life span of a laboratory rat is only about a year.
"We can't use very young rats, and the old ones have already lost their sense of smell", Express reported.
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