Tests of the "Gonets" system on board a FSUE "Atomflot"'s nuclear-powered icebreaker "50 Years of Victory" have been successfully completed. From January to August of this year, the "Gonets" ship station was installed on a nuclear-powered ship, which was in autonomous navigation in the basin of the Northern Sea Route. The tests were carried out in order to demonstrate the capabilities of the "Gonets" system for transmitting navigation messages in northern latitudes, including extreme ones, since part of the voyage was made by the ship to the North Pole area.
During all the 8 months of "Gonets" ship station testing, no equipment failures were recorded. Mounting fasteners, housing and antenna-feeder device of the terminal completely retained watertightness and mechanical integrity. During the tests, a total of 28,717 messages were transmitted from the icebreaker, the delivery time of information from the board to the dispatch center ranged from 2 to 27 minutes. The icebreaker's coordinates were formed automatically every 10 minutes using a navigation receiver built into the "Gonets" ship station. In addition to the navigation data, the "Gonets" system testing log was received from the ship every day, recording the key parameters of the ship's station and the transmission channel as a whole.
According to the experts who carried out the tests, the "Gonets" system proved to be a reliable tool for transmitting data in the Arctic latitudes. Communication sessions were successfully held in all weather conditions and at all latitudinal marks, including the North Pole region, which confirms a high potential of using the "Gonets" system in the Arctic region, including the entire length of the Northern Sea Route.
The icebreaker's route along the Northern Sea Route
The icebreaker's route to the North Pole
