The rescue vessel “Igor Belousov”, currently under construction
for the Russian Navy, is going to receive autonomous underwater
vehicles for rescue operations and deep-sea research. Manned
mini-submarines and unmanned vehicles occupy an increasingly
important place in the structure of the naval forces of
different countries of the world, and are used for both combat
and “humanitarian” missions. Such systems are able to
significantly increase the effectiveness of surface ships and
submarines by means of providing constant and careful control of
the underwater space. As technology developed, underwater
vehicles (originally created as a means of studying the seabed)
acquired much wider functions beyond search-and-rescue works and
carrying out special operations. The first underwater robots
appeared back in the 1950-1960s, but the real boom of multi-
functionality began at the turn of the century, when the
technological possibility to produce unmanned vehicles capable
of carrying out the most complex operations bo