48 · MT 5/2022 Nations in Focus An example of the DG-160 under construction in Romania. (Photo: DRASS) Technology demonstrator of hyperbaric chamber, used by the company on exhibitions to showcase its comprehensive capabilities in underwater technology. coast or next to the harbour put a serious threat to any navy”. Furthermore, DRASS possesses an exclusive patent-pending mine-laying mechanism to rapidly and accurately deploy mines from small submarines without changing the trim of the boat. Nowadays, miniaturization and the company’s capabilities to adapt virtually any hardware to fit inside a midget makes DG-160 a more flexible asset than legacy systems. In fact, the boat comes with a comprehensive command, surveillance, and communication equipment configuration including, among others, passive and obstacle avoidance sonars, optronic periscope, HF and UHF/VHF antennas, underwater communication system, INS, and echo sounder. The possibility of featuring a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) and a complete Electronic Support Measures (ESM) suite with direction finding functions also shows the potential of such a small asset for SIGINT tasks, as envisaged by specialized company Elettronica during the XII Regional Seapower Symposium held in Venice in 2019. In DRASS’ view, advantages brought by the DG-class of midgets include also affordable price, easy maintenance, and low life-cycle Rear view of the full-scale testbed of the DG-160 midget submarine in Livorno. f f
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