In the Central Design Bureau “Rubin” they told about a new domestic development - a marine drone “Argus”. This is a quite interesting underwater vehicle, designed for inspection and protection of Russian underwater pipelines.
“Argus” guards underwater infrastructure: it will find a foreign object near the pipeline, identify the source of danger in it and transmit this information to the support vessel.
Central Design Bureau “Rubin”
In fact, the capabilities of “Argus” are broader: the drone can conduct underwater reconnaissance of minerals, collect information about the structure of the bottom and the state of the aquatic environment. The device can also be used for rescue operations.
AUV [Autonomous Underwater Vehicle] is capable of operating as part of a group of similar devices, coordinating their actions. In total, up to five devices can be included in the group, which significantly reduces the duration and cost of the mission - for example, search operations or mapping of a large area.
Central Design Bureau “Rubin”
The weight of “Argus” is 3.2 tons, the length of the hull is 5.6 m, diameter is 1 m. The drone is powered by a traction battery. In the underwater position, “Argus” maintains encoded communication with the surface ship, other underwater drones, bottom communication nodes. Overwater, VHF radio equipment, satellite communication, Wi-Fi can be used to communicate with the drone.