The "Geroi Tumana" unmanned surface vessel (USV) completed an autonomous transit across the Barents Sea, covering a distance of 169 km. The route from Liinakhamari to Ura-Guba took six hours, during which the vessel operated without operator intervention. According to the developer, this is the first such expedition beyond the Arctic Circle in the world.
The voyage was another stage in the testing of the marine drone created by Murmansk-based NPK "Progress". The developers were testing the vessel's ability to independently follow a given route in various weather conditions and operate in waters with shipping traffic.
During the expedition, "Geroi Tumana" also performed video surveillance of the Barents Sea border waters, surveyed the coast of the Rybachy and Sredny Peninsulas, recorded vessels along the route, and analyzed the radio-electronic environment. A separate task was to test autonomous movement in the region's navigable bays.
"Geroi Tumana" is a multifunctional unmanned surface vessel with a length of 5.08 m and a width of 2 m. The developer's website indicates a mass of 450 kg, displacement of 0.49 tons, payload capacity of up to 1 ton, a range of up to 120 km, and a maximum speed of up to 90 km/h.
However, the declared transit of 169 km significantly exceeds the previously published test results for this project. In November 2025, the vessel covered 50 km in autonomous mode at an average speed of about 60 km/h, including entering the Barents Sea.