Author: Lan Shunzheng.
First published from: The Paper News The Paper Defense.
Recently, with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea direction and the continuation of the Houthi attack on ships in the Red Sea, various unmanned naval platforms have emerged in naval warfare, and their technological development and impact on naval warfare have also become a hot topic of attention from all parties.
Recently, the Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation disclosed new details of a super-large unmanned underwater vehicle called "Surrogate-V" (Replacement-V), according to ** reports. In the context of the frequent use of unmanned boats by the Ukrainian military to attack the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the development and use of unmanned equipment at sea in Russia has attracted much attention from the outside world.
The Replacement-V unmanned underwater vehicle can perform a variety of underwater missions, including intelligence gathering, underwater surveys, and more. In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine has used unmanned boats to successfully attack Russian ** and ports many times, destroying a number of large ships, and some time ago it also demonstrated a suicide unmanned underwater vehicle that can sail underwater - "Marichka" (Marichka), which is more concealed than unmanned boats on the water. In this context, Russia has accelerated the development of unmanned marine equipment such as unmanned boats and unmanned underwater vehicles.
Russia's unmanned underwater fleet
According to the industry's classification method for unmanned underwater vehicles, large unmanned underwater vehicles (LUUVs) are generally about 533 mm in diameter and have a displacement of about 136 tons; Ultra-large unmanned underwater vehicles (XLUVs) generally have a displacement of more than 10 tons and can work continuously for 7 days. This type of equipment is characterized by ultra-long endurance and self-sustaining power, extremely strong load carrying capacity, advanced intelligent control and autonomy capabilities, and its use mode is also diversified, not only can operate independently, but also can be used as a task carrying module for submarines, performing tasks such as intelligence collection, surveillance and reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, special operations, underwater attack operations, mine confrontation, etc., and serving as the core node of the new concept of underwater warfare in the future.
In recent years, Russia has made a lot of achievements in the development of large unmanned underwater vehicle technology. Among them, the "Poseidon" nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle can be described as the most well-known underwater unmanned combat equipment. This type of submarine was developed by the Rubin Design Bureau in cooperation with the Makaev State Missile Center and other enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex. "Poseidon" consists of a warhead, a nuclear power system, thrusters, electronic equipment and other modules, with a diameter of about 16 meters, about 24 meters long, and the load capacity is not less than 15 tons, speed of more than 60 knots, maximum depth of 1000 meters, maximum range up to 1More than 80,000 kilometers, using a number of advanced technologies such as pump jet propulsion, large-scale rudder swing and bow 3D sonar, it can be equipped with conventional warheads or nuclear warheads, which can be deployed to designated positions in advance to wait for the signal of war, and can destroy the enemy's coastal infrastructure and aircraft carrier battle groups and other targets.
In addition, the Rubin Design Bureau has developed the Harpsichord series of unmanned underwater vehicles. The first generation of the "harpsichord-1r" was 5 years long8 meters, shell diameter 900 mm, weight 25 tons, the measured diving depth can reach 6083 meters, the speed is about 3 knots, and the operation is controlled by the remote control station on the carrier ship. The second-generation "Harpsichord-2R-PM" is intended for use by naval special forces, with a case diameter of about 1 meter and a weight of about 37 tons, which can be carried by modernized nuclear submarines of the 949M type, as well as the BS-64 "Moscow Outskirts" and K-329 "Belgodro" special nuclear submarines. The Harpsichord series of unmanned underwater vehicles are capable of seabed exploration, photography, and transmission of high-resolution images to ground receiving stations. Russia has repeatedly used it for Arctic geographical expeditions, to determine the high-latitude boundaries of the Arctic continental shelf, to provide geological exploration services for oil and gas companies, or to monitor the status of submarine pipelines and communication lines.
Conceptual diagram of underwater navigation of the Poseidon nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle, which can carry a nuclear warhead.
The "battlefield stand-in" of the submarine of the future
The Alternative-V unmanned underwater vehicle mentioned this time was first made public at the Russian Army-2022 international military-technical forum held in August 2022. At that time, a model of the Replacement-V unmanned underwater vehicle was displayed at the same booth as the model of the ballistic missile nuclear submarine "Arcturus", which has a special cabin at the tail of the hull that can carry and deploy various types of unmanned underwater vehicles, including heavy submersibles.
According to the data, the Russian design bureau "Ruby" ** launched the "Replacement" project in 2016-2017. According to the information released by the Russian side at the time, the "Replacement" was designed with a displacement of 60 tons, a length of 17 meters, a cruising range of about 520 nautical miles 5 knots, a maximum speed of 24 knots, powered by a lithium-ion battery, and capable of continuous operation for 15-16 hours. The Replacement is modular and can carry a range of sonar and other components to collect the sound and electromagnetic signals of various submarines. At the same time, the "replacement" may also have the ability to carry out reconnaissance missions, and the towed sonar array it carries can not only be used for anti-submarine training, but also for the development and testing of new sonar systems, torpedoes and other submarine detection equipment and equipment, so as to effectively reduce the risk and cost of submarine development.
Compared to the earlier demonstration of the "Replacement", the displacement of the "Replacement-V" was reduced to about 40 tons and was 17 meters long. From the outside, the Alternative-V" unmanned underwater vehicle looks much like a small-sized submarine, with a streamlined hull with several protruding parts, rudder surfaces, and an annular groove for a waterjet propulsion at the tail. According to the information released this time, the Alternate-V has an operational range of up to 800 nautical miles (200 nautical miles more than when the project was first announced in 2022), its cruise speed is expected to be 5 knots, and its maximum speed is 24 knots, propelled by pump-jet propulsion commonly found on large submarines, powered by lithium-ion batteries, and capable of charging inside and at the bottom of the carrier ship. The tasks of the Replacement-V will include searching for mines, conducting reconnaissance in icy waters, and performing other tasks that are dangerous or time-consuming for manned vessels, such as topographic mapping.
Harpsichord unmanned underwater vehicle being manufactured.
One of the key features of the "Replacement-V" is its ability to mimic the noise produced by manned nuclear submarines and diesel-electric submarines, allowing it to deceive the enemy and force the adversary to pursue unmanned underwater vehicles instead of manned submarines. In addition, the "Replacement-V" may be equipped with hydroacoustic search equipment and a unique Russian non-acoustic detection system SOKS (Russian abbreviation "Wake Object Detection System"), which can sniff out enemy submarines based on any chemicals or radiation left in the wake. Models and renders of the Replacement-V also show a large sonar array on board, further confirming its capabilities as an intelligence-gathering device.
According to analysis, the unmanned underwater vehicle may be used in actual combat and anti-submarine training of the Russian Navy. In actual combat, by quietly launching the "Replacement-V" in the waters of the theater of operations, it imitates the characteristic signals of the Russian Navy's submarines to induce NATO anti-submarine submarines and aircraft to dispatch, while its main forces carry out ambushes on the preset battlefield to lure NATO's anti-submarine forces into an ambush circle, thereby annihilating its anti-submarine forces. At the same time, because the anti-submarine forces are attracted to it, the real strategic nuclear submarines of the Russian Navy can hide in the shadows and launch a fatal blow to the enemy. In anti-submarine training, the "Replacement-V" is not only simpler and cheaper in structure, but also can simulate the underwater voiceprint signal of any type of NATO submarine, acting as an effective "submarine stand-in" to help the Russian Navy's anti-submarine forces conduct anti-submarine confrontation training and improve combat capabilities.