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Russian Navy to get latest submersibles for military goals

The Vityaz-D deep-water submersible is capable of operating at maximum depths in the World Ocean

KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, August 24. /TASS/. The Russian Navy wants to replenish its fleet of unmanned deep-sea submersibles with the latest Vityaz-D vehicles that can dive to the World Ocean's deepest points, a source in the defense industry told TASS on the sidelines of the Army-2020 international military and technical forum on Monday.

"The Navy has confirmed that it wants to get Vityaz-series vehicles for using them not only for exploration but also for military goals," the source said.

At the current stage, the Navy is discussing the possibility of receiving several such submersibles from the Advanced Research Fund for free rather than acquiring them, the source specified.

The Vityaz is an underwater drone with a modular design and "can mount very diverse payloads and equipment, which provides for the possibility of its transformation for combat tasks," the source said.

The Vityaz deep-sea drone has been developed on an assignment from the Advanced Research Fund and is the world’s first fully autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle that reached the World Ocean’s deepest point, the Mariana Trench, on May 8, 2020.

The submersible operates with the help of its onboard control system that implements control algorithms without a human operator. The submersible can independently bypass obstacles along its course, including its exit from limited space using artificial intelligence elements in its control system.

The Vityaz-D deep-water submersible is capable of operating at maximum depths in the World Ocean. It comprises the autonomous vehicle, a deep-sea bottom station and control post equipment.

The submersible’s shipborne equipment provides for an information exchange of the carrier vessel with the underwater vehicle and the bottom station in real time through a sonar channel. The system is fully made of Russian components.

The Vityaz submersible that dived to the World Ocean's record depth in the spring of 2020 is on display at the Army-2020 forum in Kubinka outside Moscow. Visitors can view the submersible on the display stand of the Advanced Research Fund.