Unmanned Undersea Vehicles

UUVs have taken on a number of roles in the navies around the world, including hydrographic reconaissance, mine countermeasures, and oceanographic survey. The U.S. Navy generally classifies UUVs in four categories according to weight and diameter:

  1. Man-portable: 3-9 inch diameter, less than 100 pounds, <0.25 cubic feet payload
  2. Lightweight: 12.75 inches, about 500 pounds, 1-3 cubic feet payload
  3. Heavyweight: 21 inches (USN torpedo tube diameter), less than 3,000 pounds, 4-6 cubic feet payload
  4. Large: More than 36 inches, up to 20,000 pounds, 15-30 cubic feet payload +external stores

To learn more, visit the "undersea" links above.


Latest News

Boston Engineering Receives State Grant to Enhance BIOSwimmer UUV

28 June 2014 - Boston Engineering today announced the award of a $200,000 START Stage II grant to advance the development of its BIOSwimmer™ autonomous UUV.


Tactical Employment of Drone Motherships

11 February 2013 - How the U.S. Navy's experimentation with various combinations of platforms and drones is transforming mine warfare.


The Next Wave - Swarming Underwater Drones

8 November 2012 - Quadrotor swarm experiments have produced some interesting results, including potential for future military applications. Now some researchers in Germany are working to transition these concepts to the underwater realm.


Naval Drone Tech: Countering UUVs

14 October 2012- How will navies detect and neutralize the increasing number of unmanned underwater vehicles?


Navy Tests Ocean Drones In Narragansett Bay

12 August 2012 - The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport recently tested the Razor autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Read more.


AP Video on UUVs at the NUWC.

SPAWAR Autonomous vehicle video.


Worth reading... naval drone articles from the blogosphere and beyond

  • Captain Paul Siegrist, USN (ret.) writes in Proceedings about how the U.S. Navy must develop its UUV capability to face growing asymmetric challenges (membership required to read article).
  • Dr. Eric Whiteman discusses the legacy and future of UUV development.