The unmanned underwater vehicles market is estimated to be USD 3.5 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 7.4 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 16.0% from 2022 to 2027. Growth of this market can be attributed to the rise in military applications like combat support, ISR, mine clearance, etc., and commercial applications like offshore drilling & hydrographic surveying.

unmanned marine surveying
In May 2020, Deep BV, a survey company specializing in hydrography, marine geophysics, and oceanography, upgraded its underwater survey vessel with a Sea Machines SM300 autonomous command and remote-helm control system. The Sea Machines system enables remote command of the vessel, including navigation and positioning, the control of onboard auxiliaries and sensors, and ship-to-shore data flow. Deep operators can command and control the unmanned vessel and all onboard payloads (including survey sonars, hydrophones, winches, cranes, and davits) from its shore-side Survey Control Room, which has been equipped to manage several surveys simultaneously. Deep is transferring all collected data from the vessel to the control room via 4G and satellite connection. The combination of Sea Machines’ technology and the Survey Control Room has enabled Deep to shift from minimally manned missions to unmanned missions.

SwarmDiver by Aquabotix (Australia)
Launched in April 2019 by Aquabotix (Australia), SwarmDiver is the first commercial hybrid vehicle that can be used as both an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) and an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) in a swarm. Its swarm can be controlled on the surface by a human operator as a single coordinated entity, which dives on command. Since it is able to function like a UGV, SwarmDiver solves the problem of slow underwater communication caused by the use of acoustic waves; it can transmit data through electromagnetic waves once on the surface in the UGV mode. Application areas of SwarmDiver include defense and security, environmental monitoring, harbor management, and plume tracking and research. A bio-inspired mini robot weighing 3.7 pounds, SwarmDiver is 29.5 inches long, and has an endurance of 2.5 hours with a diving reach of 150-feet. It measures the temperature and pressure of the water and can be tracked through GPS at a maximum depth of 3.3 feet from the surface of the water. In January 2019, Aquabotix (Australia) received a contract worth USD 70,000 from the US Navy for the further development of SwarmDiver.

“Electric Systems: The fastest-growing segment of the remotely operated vehicles market, by propulsion “
Based on electric systems, propulsion systems of remotely operated vehicles are further divided into fully electric systems and hybrid systems. Fully electric systems are expected to lead the segment as well as record the higher CAGR across the forecast period due to increasing advancements in battery technology.

“North America: The largest contributing region in the unmanned underwater vehicles market.”
North America includes the US and Canada. The US is one of the largest global developers, operators, and exporters of unmanned military systems. Thus, it accounts for a large share of the North American region in the global unmanned underwater vehicles market. The main functions of UUVs include ensuring marine border security, Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR), and anti-submarine warfare. North American countries are awarding several contracts to major players in the unmanned underwater vehicles market to deliver UUVs with combat capabilities, thus driving the growth of the unmanned underwater vehicles market in the region.
Oceaneering International Inc. (US), Kongsberg Maritime (Norway), The Boeing Company (US), General Dynamics Corp. (US), Saan AB (Sweden), and Fugro (Netherlands) are the key players in the unmanned underwater vehicles market.

Research Coverage
The study covers the unmanned underwater vehicles market across various segments and subsegments. It aims at estimating the size and growth potential of this market across different segments based on Application, Mobility, Size, Mode of Operation, System, and region. This study also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key players in the market, along with their company profiles, key observations related to their product and business offerings, recent developments undertaken by them, and key market strategies adopted by them.

Reasons To Buy this Report
This report is expected to help market leaders/new entrants with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall unmanned underwater vehicles market and its segments. This study is also expected to provide region wise information about the end use, and wherein unmanned underwater vehicles are used. This report aims at helping the stakeholders understand the competitive landscape of the market, gain insights to improve the position of their businesses and plan suitable go-to-market strategies. This report is also expected to help them understand the pulse of the market and provide them with information on key drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities influencing the growth of the market.