The military decided to buy a deep-sea rescue vehicle after a Priz AS-28 mini-sub with a seven-man crew became trapped in a fishing net last August at a depth of about 620 feet in the Bering Sea. It was released after three days when an unmanned British deep-sea rescue vehicle, Scorpio 45, cut the cables and freed the mini-sub.
Admiral Vladimir Masorin said the Navy would buy a Russian-made craft.
"The purchase has already been settled and this fall the Navy will acquire a Panther deep-sea rescue vehicle," he said.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in early June the rescue vehicles would be deployed in the Leningrad military district around St. Petersburg, but that if necessary could be used anywhere in the world.
The Panther can operate at a depth of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) and can be delivered to any part of the globe on board an Il-76 transport plane.
Tetis Pro, the Russia-based Panther designer, said the vehicle would be tested in the Black Sea this fall.
