What's James Bond without a fancy gadget, a spy without spy tech? Not cool, right?
Spy tech and gadgets have been an integral part of intelligence gathering since long. Many such gadgets have been used during the two world wars for assassinations and covert missions.
With spy cameras and audio bugs being just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty of spy gadgets out there. Some of them seen in the movies picked up from real life events. Here is our list of 7 quirky spy gadgets.
Lipstick Pistol
Used during the cold war, this deadly device was used by KGB agents to carry out covert assassinations.
Showcased at the International Spy Museum in Washington, this 4.5mm weapon was disguised as a lipstick and was known as 'The Kiss of Death'. Its existence was first discovered in West Berlin.
Bulgarian umbrella
This dart gun concealed as an umbrella, used to fire micro-darts containing ricin (a cutting edge, deadly poison used during that time). The Bulgarian Umbrella is widely known for its use during the assassination of Bulgarian dissident and writer Georgi Markov on the streets of London.
One day he was walking down the street and he felt something on his leg and when he looked back, he saw nothing. He subsequently got ill and died the next day. And to this date no one has been tried for his murder.
Shoe with heel Transmitter
Used during the 60's and 70's, the Romanian Secret Service used to secretly obtain the shoes of American diplomats and fit a hidden transmitter and microphone in them.
Through this they could track their movements and eavesdrop on their conversations with suspected targets.
Dragonfly Insectohopter
Crafted by the CIA in the 1970's the Dragonfly Insectohopter was a very small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which was conceived as a spy device that could fly to locations without being spotted and gather intelligence.
Although it was never used in the field, as it could not be effectively controlled in case of crosswinds. But, the idea and its implementation was a major achievement at that time.
The enigma machine
The famous cipher machine invented by the German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War 1 was one of the greatest cryptographic devices ever made during that time. Though the Enigma machine looked like a regular typewriter, it was much more than that.
Its keyboard was linked to a rotor, which used to rearrange and reorder each keystroke multiple times to cipher a message. Subsequently all the messages that were sent out used to be in Morse code and required certain keys, which changed at regular intervals, to decipher it.
Complicated huh!
Glove Pistol
This is something that even James Bond will be jealous of. What would you say if there was a pistol, which could be used while keeping both hands free? Not possible right?
This was made possible by the Glove Pistol. Built by the US navy, this concealed weapon used to fire when the plunger was pushed into the enemy.
Ajoka Spy Sunglasses
This is one gadget every spy or wannabe spy should own. These cool Sunglasses are capable of recording everything you see or hear. They have a 1.3 mega pixel camera and 2GB memory that can record for roughly 5 hours.
(source:techgig)
