Russia will create a competence center for the development of military uncrewed boats

The Russian Federation is working on the creation of a single center of competence for the development of crewless boats for the Navy. This was announced on January 28 by Nikolai Patrushev, aide to the Russian President and chairman of the Russian Maritime Board.

"The creation of new types of crewless boats, which are superior to foreign samples in terms of their performance, will be handled by the unified center of competence for the development of crewless underwater vehicles and robotic complexes for the Navy," the head of the board said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

He noted that this work will be adequately financed, and the best personnel from both civil and military spheres - employees of leading technology companies - will be involved in it. Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will be used in designing the new models. Patrushev pointed out that the Navy is already being equipped with BECs, and their production has seriously increased taking into account the experience of the special operation for the defense of Donbass.

The head of the Maritime Collegium noted that Russia is now very actively updating the entire system of documents on strategic planning of work at sea. This concerns the strategy for the development of the Navy, the foundations of Russia's state policy in the field of naval activities, the strategy for the development of the shipbuilding industry and other fundamental documents.

The day before, on January 27, the fourth-generation nuclear-powered submarine cruiser Arkhangelsk of the Yasen-M project arrived at its permanent home base in the Northern Fleet. Commander of the Northern Fleet Submarine Force, Vice Admiral Anatoly Kovalenko noted that the new vessel will contribute to the development of the entire basing point.

Navy Chief Admiral Alexander Moiseyev said on January 5 that the Russian Navy received 30 new ships and submarines in 2024. Among them were the small missile ship Amur and the diesel-electric submarine Kronstadt.

Prior to that, on November 29, 2024, Patrushev noted that when managing maritime activities, it is important that the issues of economy, science, development of new maritime technologies and protection of Russia's national interests are considered in conjunction. The head of the Maritime Board urged to take into account international experience in the work of the agency.