The minesweeper Vieste is the first unit of the Italian Navy to be equipped with two latest generation AUV (Autonomous Underwater Veichle) vehicles, the Hugin 1000 and the recent Multipluto.
Admiral Donato Marzano (commander-in-chief of the Naval Squad), visiting on the ship Vieste, stressed that the use of both vehicles will significantly increase underwater research capabilities, especially at deep altitudes, and will broaden the operational scenarios in which the unit can operate in the future.
Indeed, the autonomous vehicle Hugin 1000, is capable of reaching a depth of 3000 meters and is equipped with highly sophisticated detailed mapping systems of the seabed. In the past, he collaborated in the investigation of recent maritime accidents, in the discovery of several wrecks of the first and second world wars and in the discovery of objects of high economic importance.
Today, with the new wire-guided vehicle Multipluto, equipped with a video camera and a telescopic arm, can be used both by enhancing the capabilities of the unit, which, acting as an isolated unit, is able to investigate, classify and identify objects of different nature on high depths.
The unit left the port of La Spezia for an activity that for about three weeks will see it used in favor of the environmental protection of our coasts in locating and searching for artifacts and war devices.
