Russia Project 1855 mini submarine AS-34 conducts deep diving drills near Norway.

According to a tweet published by Saturnax on April 21, 2023, Project 1855 Priz-class deep-submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV) AS-34 recently conducted a series of deep-diving & maneuvering exercises in the Kola Bay, assisted by the Project 05360 salvage vessel Mikhail Rudnitsky.
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Russian Priz class deep-submergence rescue vehicle AS-34. (Picture source: Russian MoD)

On March 25, 2023, Olivier Alexander wrote an article where he mentioned that the Priz class deep-submergence rescue vehicle AS-26 could have been behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

About the Priz class

The Priz-class deep-submergence rescue vehicle (Project 1855) is a type of underwater apparatus used by the Russian Navy. Despite often being referred to as a bathyscaphe in the press, the DSRV is more accurately classified as a mini-submarine due to its technical characteristics.

She was developed for the purpose of rescuing submarine crews and is not intended for scientific or oceanographic research. The DSRV was designed to be transported to the operation site by a carrier ship and has a range of 39 km with a 120-hour autonomy, and she can be used at depths of up to 1,000 meters.

The construction of the DSRV is similar to that of submarines, with the battery and engine located in a sturdy body, and the propeller shaft passing through the same body.

The use of titanium material for the body allows the apparatus to operate at depths of up to 1,000 meters. The navigation system of the DSRV is equipped with radio-electronic equipment that allows her to determine its own underwater location and detect submarines.

She was developed and built by the "Lazurit" design bureau at the Krasnoye Sormovo factory in Nizhny Novgorod, under the leadership of chief designer E.V. Krylov.

The series of four ships of this project ("AS-26", "AS-28", "AS-30", "AS-34") were built at the Krasnoye Sormovo factory. The DSRV is delivered to the place of work on carrier ships, and several types of rescue ships can serve as carriers for her.