ROMANIAN COMBAT DIVERS TECHNOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

This paper aims to provide an overview of the technological perspectives of Romanian combat divers,to present the current status and possible development directions towards state-of-the-art capabilities in line with the needs of the Romanian Naval Forces and the Special Operations Forces Command as beneficiaries. The article uses domain observation and analysis, both longitudinal and cross-sectional, of military divers, dedicated to identify current capabilities, technological trends for combat divers as well as to highlight the importance they represent within the Naval Forces, taking into account the contribution and especially the role that combat divers play in countering the hybrid threats of the current security environment. For this paper, we have set out to identify the current state of the capabilities of Romanian combat divers, to this end we will present the possibilities of their use for military purposes and identify possible missions that they can perform in the Black Sea area. Moreover, we will highlight technological perspectives on the modernisation and development of the military capabilities concerning combat divers. The novelty of this article stems from the analysis and highlighting of the effective use of combat divers through new technological possibilities in response to the challenges of the new security context. Through this paper, we address to master students and personnel of the Naval Forces, to those who contribute to the implementation of feasible ideas at the level of the Romanian Naval Forces and wish to develop the capabilities of combat divers to deter the actions of a potential adversary.