The crew of the autonomous manned deep-sea rescue vehicle AS-36 “Bester” of the Northern Fleet (SF) rescue squad has begun testing in the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday, December 17.
Prior to this, the Bester underwent a mid-life repair at the Kanonersky shipyard in St. Petersburg with the modernization of the main systems. So, on the rescue submarine, radio-technical weapons, automation and traffic control systems were completely updated. A new navigation system has been installed, which will make it possible to accurately determine the location of the vehicle both on the sea surface and under water. The AS-36 body was tested in laboratory conditions for the maximum pressure that it experiences at depths of more than 1,000 m.
AS-36 has already passed some of the checks in the Baltic, now it is the turn of the acceptance tests. They are now under the command of Captain Third Rank Andrei Volkov in the Kola Bay, then the test area will be redeployed in the Barents Sea. So far, we have partially checked its handling characteristics on the surface. Next in line: underwater maneuvering and measurements of various technical parameters, checking the operation of instruments, all systems and mechanisms.
The standard carrier of the AS-36 underwater vehicle is the rescue vessel “Mikhail Rudnitsky”, the crew of which ensures all manipulations with the apparatus and test work in the Kola Bay.
The tests will continue in 2022. At their final stage, Bester will dive to its working depth of more than 700 m with the support of another autonomous rescuer – AS-34, which is based on board the Georgy Titov rescue vessel.
On November 20, the Northern Fleet submariners conducted special anti-submarine exercises with practical torpedo firing in the Barents Sea. The counteraction to the cruiser during the maneuvers was provided by a multipurpose nuclear submarine of one of the submarine forces of the Northern Fleet.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
