Vityaz-D Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Lore & Background

Development of the Vityaz-D began in September 2017, with a keel-laying ceremony held at Rubin's assembly plant for experimental production in November 2018. Testing commenced in May 2020 with autonomous dives to 2,400 meters in the Sea of Japan, to 5,200 meters in the Philippine Sea, and culminating with a 10,028 meter dive into the Mariana Trench on 8 May 2020. The greatest depth of the Mariana Trench is 10,925 meters, about 900 meters deeper than this dive. During the Mariana Trench mission, the Vityaz-D spent over three hours studying the trench and laid a flag at the bottom to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory Day. Its mother ship was the rescue tug Fotiy Krylov. Russia revealed the Vityaz-D program at the Army-2020 International Military and Technical Forum in July 2020. The vehicle was named in honor of the R/V Vityaz, which for nearly 20 years was the flagship of the Soviet scientific research fleet. During Pacific dives, the Vityaz-D tested a unique system of long-range audio-visual communication. Communications with the AUV were continuous and successful during the 10,028 meter depth mission, using a 'sound-guided communication' system that apparently automatically directs communication bursts along a selected acoustic-ray path. This underwater acoustic communication link between the mother ship and the Vityaz-D involved both sonic and ultrasonic channels, allowing transmission of text, low-quality images, and updating command and control instructions.

Reader's Guide

Georgy Vinogradov, a senior researcher at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a participant in diving the MIR deep-submergence vehicles, stated that the use of this technology will open up many new opportunities for scientific research, noting that underwater vehicles are an obvious trend in ocean exploration and that a big step has been taken forward. The editors of GlobalSecurity.org noted the significance of this development by comparing it to the quantum leap in size and purpose of UAVs when they came to be regarded as reusable aircraft rather than expendable munitions, stating that such a revolutionary phase transition is now underway underwater. They attributed this to the unfolding of Moore's law, allowing onboard computers to take on greater responsibility for complex tasks, and noted that the tether has been severed as computers onboard the vehicle can execute complex tasks in response to simple directions. The Russian Navy plans to replace its fleet of unmanned deep-sea submersibles with the Vityaz-D drone for its military operations.

Did You Know?

• It laid a flag at the bottom of the Mariana Trench to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory Day.
• Its mother ship for the record dive was the rescue tug Fotiy Krylov.