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Navy to buy new mini-sub equipment overseas - commander

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ST. PETERSBURG, January 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russian mini-submarines from the same class of a craft that was involved in a tense rescue operation at the bottom of the Pacific last year will be upgraded with new foreign-made equipment, the commander of the navy said Tuesday.

Vladimir Masorin told a briefing in northwestern Russia that tenders would be held to give AS-28 mini-subs a radical overhaul using foreign-made submarine equipment and mobile systems based on Britain's Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle.

"The most cutting-edge equipment will be installed, and only the original hulls will remain untouched," Masorin said.

The efforts of the top brass follow an incident in the Bering Sea last August, when a Priz AS-28 with seven sailors on board became trapped in a fishing net at a depth of about 620 feet. It was released after three days when an unmanned British deep-sea rescue vehicle, the Scorpio 45, cut the cables and freed the mini-sub.

Masorin also said a large rescue vehicle, the Igor Belousov, was under construction and would be fitted out with state-of-the-art equipment. The commander added that on March 19, the Borei nuclear-powered submarine would be laid down, and latest diesel powered submarine, the St. Petersburg, would start trials.

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