MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Russian specialists have developed the unmanned submarine Yunost-82, which uses ocean currents for propulsion with minimal energy expenditure. The boat is capable of making several circumnavigations in a single mission, Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, told TASS.

"One of the Center’s projects is the unmanned submarine Yunost-82, with a circumnavigation range. Despite the lack of a nuclear propulsion system, Yunost can circumnavigate the globe, and more than once. The principle is the same as that of sea turtles: the boat uses a map of ocean currents to plot a route to a given point with minimal energy expenditure. Yes, the boat has motors, but their purpose is not cruising, but steering at the boundaries of currents, to navigate between them or stay within them," Kuzyakin said.

According to the expert, the boat’s speed is equal to the speed of the ocean currents. "Consequently, the boat has minimal windage and remains semi-submerged at all times, which also makes it difficult to detect it using radar or acoustic means. Therefore, the boat is equipped with special transponders to ensure its detection. It's too early to disclose technical details, but the boat has sufficient displacement to deliver research payloads to any desired point on the planet. The purpose of such vehicles is meteorological research of the sea and coastal areas to determine air quality and radiation conditions," Kuzyakin said.

The general designer of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions stated that the newest unmanned boat is inexpensive to manufacture and can be mass-produced. "The cost of each boat is low, and the number of subs will ensure their widespread presence in the world’s oceans. At any time, if necessary, the submarines can be gathered together to carry out any important environmental mission," he said.

Kuzyakin emphasized that the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions’ domain of professional activity is the transformation of open-source digital engineering developments into military applications. "We work with a wide variety of solutions, including on land and at sea. <…> Surprisingly, from an engineering perspective, attack FPV drones and the Yunost-82 unmanned submarine have more in common than the same submarine and a naval torpedo. Different levels of technology, different approaches, different levels of flexibility in application and, as a result, in combat scenarios," the expert said.