History
The original design of the URF had a rescue capacity of 25 submariners and included a diver2015 operation
The URF can operate to the Baltic Sea's maximum depth. It has a rescue skirt which makes it possible to mate with the submarine's emergency hatch, and can rescue a submarine crew of up to 35 submariners in a single trip, while holding them in above-atmospheric pressure if necessary until they can be transferred under pressure to a decompression chamber system to continue treatment and decompression. The URF is a free-swimming vehicle with a pressure hull which is separated into three pressure-tight compartments. Two pilots manoeuvre the vehicle from the pilot compartment by operating one main propulsion unit and four tunnel thrusters. The third crew member is the machinery operator who also assists the pilots while docking the URF with the disabled submarine. If the submarine is pressurised, an additional rescue room operator is included in the crew. The pressure hull is surrounded by a streamlined fibreglass reinforced plastic casing which protects auxiliary equipment mounted between the pressure hull and casing, which includes batteries, compressed air and oxygen cylinders, hydraulics and trim systems. In cases where its mothership, Belos, can't get the URF to the rescue site quickly, the URF is flown to a suitable airport, transported to a port on its trailer, and towed to the area of operations.See also
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