8A4 class ROUV
Encyclopedia
The 8A4 class ROUV is a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV), a Chinese ROUV used to perform various underwater tasks ranging from oil platform service to salvage and rescue missions. The 8A4 is a member of a series of related ROUVs developed in the People's Republic of China
, with improved versions designed using earlier versions or commercially available versions as a starting point. The predecessor to the 8A4 is the RECON-IV, which is an improved version of the American RECON-III. The 8A4 is an improved version of the American AMETEK 2006. The 7B8 is an improved version of the 8A4.
. Hysub 40 ROUVs was deployed by Shanghai
Salvage Bureau and proved its worth not only in oil drilling operations, but also in salvage and rescue missions. However, these foreign built ROUVs were simply too expensive to be adopted in significant numbers, and the salvage operational needs of the People's Liberation Army Navy
(PLAN) could not be met. As a result, China decided to develop its own version of ROUVs with similar capability.
One of the first ROUVs domestically built in China was the RECON-IV ROUV, which is based on the American RECON-III ROUV built by Perry Oceanographic (later purchased by Lockheed Martin
) based in Riviera Beach, Florida
. Based on the technology transfer, the Shenyang Institute of Automation
of the Chinese Academy of Science and Perry Oceanographic jointly developed the RECON-IV ROUV, which was adopted by People's Liberation Army Navy for salvage and rescue operations. However, like earlier ROUVs, the RECON-IV is primarily designed for civilian operations and had its limitations in performing certain military operations, such as cutting through specialized steel used to build certain compartments of submarines that were stranded, and opening some valves on sinking vessels, thus a more capable follow-up was needed.
(CSIC), the Shipbuilding Engineering Institute of Harbin Engineering University
(HEU), and the Institute of Underwater Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University
(SHJTU), with a professor of SHJTU, Mr. Xu Huangnan (徐芑南), and the future deputy general designer of Explorer AUV
, and the future general designer of other Chinese unmanned underwater vehicles including Sea Dragon class ROUV
, CR class AUV, and SJT class ROUV
, was named as the general designer of the 8A4 ROUV. The goal was to develop an ROUV primarily used for military applications, while also capable of performing civilian tasks as the secondary mission.
To shorten the time needed, the decision was made to develop an ROUV based on existing technology by first selecting a system available on the market with performance closest to the requirements, and then improving the commercially available system based on the experienced gained from the RECON-IV ROUV developed earlier. The AMETEK 2006, an American ROUV used to support offshore oil drilling operations, was selected because it was the one that met the requirements best, while also being the one China could purchase on the international market at the time. However, despite meeting Chinese requirements better than all of the rest available systems, it was far from getting close, so extensive improvements were needed. One of the major upgrades needed was the complete redesign and incorporation of two manipulators that were required to operate around half a dozen tools underwater. These manipulators were completed by the main subcontractor, the Huazhong University of Science and Technology
(HUST), and eventually won 1st Place in the Scientific and Technological Advancement Award of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation in 1996.
The first 8A4 ROUV completed sea trials in 1993 and subsequently entered service. During its evaluation, the 8A4 ROUV successfully opened a submarine compartment constructed of special steel, a feat no other ROUV in Chinese inventory could achieve, and the 8A4 was thus dubbed as the most capable salvage and rescue ROUV in Chinese service. The 8A4 is capable of operating at a depth of up to 600 meters, with a cruising radius of up to 150 meters, and it was one of the first ROUVs in Chinese inventory to incorporate a Tether Management System (TMS). In 1996, the 8A4 ROUV won 3rd Place in the Scientific and Technological Advancement Award of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Despite the success and awards received, the 8A4 class ROUV is severely limited in its capability during actual deployment due to financial constraints. With the exception of the very first unit, all of the remaining 8A4 ROUVs have their TMS deleted due to the budget cuts, resulting in significant reduction in performance. For example, the maximum operational depth is reduced by more than half. It is not until the early 2010s during the scheduled overhaul would the TMS be planned to be reintroduced to all the 8A4 ROUVs to achieve their full capability.
(AUV). Designed by the Shipbuilding Engineering Institute of Harbin Engineering University
(HEU) based on the experience of the 8A4 ROUV with Mr. Deng Sanrui (邓三瑞) as the general designer, the 7B8 ROUV was first revealed to the Chinese public in Beijing
during the National Science and Technology Exhibition of the People's Liberation Army
at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
in 1995 while still under development, and members of the Central Military Commission headed by General Liu Huaqing
was among those special guests.
The 7B8 ROUV is unique in that in comparison to other Chinese ROUVs, it can also operate independently as an AUV in addition to being operated remotely via tether/cable like ordinary ROUVs. The 7B8 first completed its trials as an ROUV in the 1990s and in 2000. Then it completed AUV trials including autonomously searching underwater targets and autonomous underwater work, and subsequently entered service. When the 7B8 is operated as an AUV, the maximum operating depth is less than when operating as an ROUV.
Specifications:
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, with improved versions designed using earlier versions or commercially available versions as a starting point. The predecessor to the 8A4 is the RECON-IV, which is an improved version of the American RECON-III. The 8A4 is an improved version of the American AMETEK 2006. The 7B8 is an improved version of the 8A4.
RECON-IV ROUV
The origin of 8A4 traces back to the RECON-IV ROUV. Since the 1980s, China begun to operate ROUVs to support its offshore oil drill operations and salvage operations, such as Hysub 10 ROUVs and Hysub 40 ROUVs supplied by the Canadian firm International Submarine Engineering in British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Hysub 40 ROUVs was deployed by Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
Salvage Bureau and proved its worth not only in oil drilling operations, but also in salvage and rescue missions. However, these foreign built ROUVs were simply too expensive to be adopted in significant numbers, and the salvage operational needs of the People's Liberation Army Navy
People's Liberation Army Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...
(PLAN) could not be met. As a result, China decided to develop its own version of ROUVs with similar capability.
One of the first ROUVs domestically built in China was the RECON-IV ROUV, which is based on the American RECON-III ROUV built by Perry Oceanographic (later purchased by Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
) based in Riviera Beach, Florida
Riviera Beach, Florida
Riviera Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, U.S.A. which was incorporated September 29, 1922. Because of where its eastern boundary lies, it is also the easternmost municipality in the South Florida metropolitan area. The population was 29,884 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the...
. Based on the technology transfer, the Shenyang Institute of Automation
Shenyang Institute of Automation
Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was founded in 1958. It is mainly engaged in mechatronic engineering, pattern recognition and intelligent system, control theory and control engineering, computer applied technology....
of the Chinese Academy of Science and Perry Oceanographic jointly developed the RECON-IV ROUV, which was adopted by People's Liberation Army Navy for salvage and rescue operations. However, like earlier ROUVs, the RECON-IV is primarily designed for civilian operations and had its limitations in performing certain military operations, such as cutting through specialized steel used to build certain compartments of submarines that were stranded, and opening some valves on sinking vessels, thus a more capable follow-up was needed.
8A4 ROUV
To develop a ROUV that meets the special needs of military salvage and rescue operations that was not commercially available on the market, China organized a design team in the late 1980s including the 702nd Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry CorporationChina Shipbuilding Industry Corporation
The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation is one of the two largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, the other being the China State Shipbuilding Corporation . It was formed by the Government of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1999 from companies spun off from CSSC. It is...
(CSIC), the Shipbuilding Engineering Institute of Harbin Engineering University
Harbin Engineering University
Harbin Engineering University was founded in 1953, in Harbin, China. It used to host the PLA Military Engineering Institute, China's foremost institute in that field. Following the deterioration of China's relations with the USSR after the Sino-Soviet border conflict, it divided into six...
(HEU), and the Institute of Underwater Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University or SJTU), sometimes referred to as Shanghai Jiaotong University , is a top public research university located in Shanghai, China. Shanghai Jiao Tong University is known as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China...
(SHJTU), with a professor of SHJTU, Mr. Xu Huangnan (徐芑南), and the future deputy general designer of Explorer AUV
Explorer AUV
Explorer Autonomous underwater vehicle is a Chinese AUV developed in the People's Republic of China , first entering service in November 1994, and it should not be confused with another two Anglo-American AUVs that share the same name: the American built by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,...
, and the future general designer of other Chinese unmanned underwater vehicles including Sea Dragon class ROUV
Sea Dragon class ROUV
Sea Dragon class remotely operated underwater vehicle is a class of Chinese ROUV used to perform various underwater tasks ranging from oil platform service to salvage and rescue missions, and it is a class of ROUV developed in People's Republic of China with the deepest diving capability: up to...
, CR class AUV, and SJT class ROUV
SJT class ROUV
SJT class remotely operated underwater vehicle is a series of Chinese ROUV jointly developed by the of Chinese Academy of Science and of Shanghai Jiao Tong University . The general designer of SJT class ROUV is Mr...
, was named as the general designer of the 8A4 ROUV. The goal was to develop an ROUV primarily used for military applications, while also capable of performing civilian tasks as the secondary mission.
To shorten the time needed, the decision was made to develop an ROUV based on existing technology by first selecting a system available on the market with performance closest to the requirements, and then improving the commercially available system based on the experienced gained from the RECON-IV ROUV developed earlier. The AMETEK 2006, an American ROUV used to support offshore oil drilling operations, was selected because it was the one that met the requirements best, while also being the one China could purchase on the international market at the time. However, despite meeting Chinese requirements better than all of the rest available systems, it was far from getting close, so extensive improvements were needed. One of the major upgrades needed was the complete redesign and incorporation of two manipulators that were required to operate around half a dozen tools underwater. These manipulators were completed by the main subcontractor, the Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
The Huazhong University of Science and Technology is a public, coeducational research university located in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. As a national key university, HUST is directly affiliated to the Ministry of Education of China. HUST has been referred as the flagship of China's higher...
(HUST), and eventually won 1st Place in the Scientific and Technological Advancement Award of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation in 1996.
The first 8A4 ROUV completed sea trials in 1993 and subsequently entered service. During its evaluation, the 8A4 ROUV successfully opened a submarine compartment constructed of special steel, a feat no other ROUV in Chinese inventory could achieve, and the 8A4 was thus dubbed as the most capable salvage and rescue ROUV in Chinese service. The 8A4 is capable of operating at a depth of up to 600 meters, with a cruising radius of up to 150 meters, and it was one of the first ROUVs in Chinese inventory to incorporate a Tether Management System (TMS). In 1996, the 8A4 ROUV won 3rd Place in the Scientific and Technological Advancement Award of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Despite the success and awards received, the 8A4 class ROUV is severely limited in its capability during actual deployment due to financial constraints. With the exception of the very first unit, all of the remaining 8A4 ROUVs have their TMS deleted due to the budget cuts, resulting in significant reduction in performance. For example, the maximum operational depth is reduced by more than half. It is not until the early 2010s during the scheduled overhaul would the TMS be planned to be reintroduced to all the 8A4 ROUVs to achieve their full capability.
7B8 ROUV
The 7B8 ROUV is a further development of the 8A4 ROUV, and it is a Chinese transition from ROUV to Autonomous underwater vehicleAutonomous Underwater Vehicle
An autonomous underwater vehicle is a robot which travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes non-autonomous remotely operated underwater vehicles...
(AUV). Designed by the Shipbuilding Engineering Institute of Harbin Engineering University
Harbin Engineering University
Harbin Engineering University was founded in 1953, in Harbin, China. It used to host the PLA Military Engineering Institute, China's foremost institute in that field. Following the deterioration of China's relations with the USSR after the Sino-Soviet border conflict, it divided into six...
(HEU) based on the experience of the 8A4 ROUV with Mr. Deng Sanrui (邓三瑞) as the general designer, the 7B8 ROUV was first revealed to the Chinese public in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
during the National Science and Technology Exhibition of the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, or China People's Revolution Military Museum is a museum located in Beijing, China immediately west of central Beijing in Haidian District...
in 1995 while still under development, and members of the Central Military Commission headed by General Liu Huaqing
Liu Huaqing
Liu Huaqing was the Commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy from 1982 through 1988, and is considered to been responsible for its modernization efforts....
was among those special guests.
The 7B8 ROUV is unique in that in comparison to other Chinese ROUVs, it can also operate independently as an AUV in addition to being operated remotely via tether/cable like ordinary ROUVs. The 7B8 first completed its trials as an ROUV in the 1990s and in 2000. Then it completed AUV trials including autonomously searching underwater targets and autonomous underwater work, and subsequently entered service. When the 7B8 is operated as an AUV, the maximum operating depth is less than when operating as an ROUV.
Specifications:
- Length: 4.33 meters
- Width: 1.27 meters
- Height: 1.76 meters
- Weight: 1.69 tons
- Operating depth: 100 meters (when operating as an AUVAutonomous Underwater VehicleAn autonomous underwater vehicle is a robot which travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes non-autonomous remotely operated underwater vehicles...
)
External links
- Hysub 10 ROUVs (Canada)
- Hysub 40 ROUVs (Canada)
- International Submarine Engineering (Canada)
- Shenyang Institute of Automation (沈阳自动化所)
- Shipbuilding Engineering Institute (船舶工程学院)
- Institute of Underwater Engineering (水下工程研究所)