Russia tests underwater drone in Mariana Trench
The Russian deep-sea vehicle "Vityaz-D" for the first time plunged to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told reporters.
"This is the result of effective cooperation as part of the project of Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects in the Defense Industry, headed by Rubin Design Bureau, as well as active support for the project by the Navy. We expect that the new scientific and design elite of the defense industry will grow while working on such projects," Borisov said.
He noted the contribution to the project by the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects. "I just want to add that this is not our only breakthrough development. There is a number of them. There is a lot of work ahead and I am sure there are new achievements," Borisov added.
According to the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects, the unit dove to the bottom on May 8, 2020 at 22:34 Moscow time. Sensors of the device recorded a depth of 10,028 meters. The duration of the mission, excluding immersion and surfacing, was more than three hours, RIA Novosti reports.
Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in the annual report for 2015 reported that it had designed a deep-sea apparatus Vityaz designed for research work at a depth of up to 11,000. meters.
In 2017, Rubin Central Design Bureau published a request for proposals for the manufacture and delivery of a special outdoor lighting system for the Vityaz-D deep-sea vehicle, according to documents published on the public procurement website, the maximum price of the contract was 15 million rubles ($204,360 USD).
The ceremony of laying the Vityaz-D submersible at the assembly plant of experimental production took place on November 30, 2018.