USV · UUV · AUV Reference Site
|How the world’s maritime unmanned vehicles break down by class, domain, sector, and origin.
Real-time AIS positions of tracked unmanned surface vessels around the world.
7 tracked surface platforms in the database currently expose 11 public MMSIs.
Browse, search, and filter the complete database of maritime unmanned vehicles.
Manufacturers, defense agencies, and research organizations building maritime unmanned vehicles.
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The six newest items are surfaced first, with canonical archive pages, source citations, and older entries available below in smaller batches.
Danish company J.A. Solutions A/S has presented an automatic deployment system intended for unmanned surface vessels and other maritime platforms, covering both military and search-and-rescue applications. The company has shown the system…
Surface autonomy remains a key indicator of maritime robotics adoption.
An expedition led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has obtained the first close-up images of the wreck of Quest , the last ship of famed Antarctic explorer Si…
ROV activity keeps subsea inspection and intervention capacity visible.
A 'world-first' capability demonstration has seen an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) airdropped from a military transport aircraft, proving a new method for rapidly deploying maritime systems into contested or difficult-to-access operating e…
Surface autonomy remains a key indicator of maritime robotics adoption.
Greensea Systems, Inc. (Greensea IQ), has received a $3.7 million task order from the United States Marine Corps for the procurement of four additional Bayonet 250 Autonomous Underwater Ground Vehicles (AUGVs) to further support the Littor…
Underwater autonomy remains a key signal for naval and offshore capability.
Greensea Systems, Inc., (Greensea IQ), has received a $3.7 million dollar task order from the United States Marine Corps for the procurement of four additional Bayonet 250 Autonomous Underwater Ground Vehicles (AUGVs) to further support th…
Underwater autonomy remains a key signal for naval and offshore capability.
ACUA Ocean's Mk1 USV PIONEER has successfully completed a five-day remotely operated offshore demonstration, validating the concept of persistent, multi-domain maritime operations using a long-endurance uncrewed surface vessel.
ROV activity keeps subsea inspection and intervention capacity visible.
Showing 185 total news items across 68 archived daily runs. The site reads this data from /api/news.
ECOsubsea, a provider of marine technology, along with partners Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) and the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), have delivered a study on detecting invasive marine species from vessel hulls using…
Kraken Technology Group and Capewell, supported by the Royal Navy under Project Beehive, have successfully completed the world's first extracted-load airdrop of an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) from an A400M military transport aircraft.
Kraken Technology Group and Capewell, supported by the Royal Navy under Project Beehive, have successfully completed the world's first extracted-load airdrop of an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) from an A400M military transport aircraft. Kr…
ACUA Ocean's Mk1 USV PIONEER has successfully completed a five-day remotely operated offshore demonstration, validating persistent, multi-domain maritime operations using an uncrewed surface vessel.On Monday 22 June 2026, PIONEER departed…
Oceaneering International, Inc. has announced that its Brazilian subsidiary, Marine Production Systems do Brasil LTDA (MPS), won a contract from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) to deliver ROV services offshore Brazil. The award follow…
HII has been awarded an option year production contract for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation program of record, the Lionfish small unmanned undersea vehicle (SUUV). Lionfish is based on HII’s commercial REMUS 300 platform, originally develo…
HII has been awarded an option year production contract for the US Navy’s Lionfish small unmanned undersea vehicle (SUUV) program, continuing production of the next-generation autonomous underwater system designed for undersea warfare miss…
OMS Group (OMS) has announced the successful completion of a two-week training program for its dedicated USV Elite operations team at the manufacturer’s facility in La Ciotat, South of France. The program marks a key milestone in OMS’s lon…
Reference Notes
Sea Drone World indexes 139 maritime unmanned vehicles from 63 manufacturers across 16 countries.
The catalog covers 78 surface vehicles and 61 underwater vehicles, spanning civilian, military, and dual-use platforms.
A USV is an unmanned surface vehicle — a crewless boat or ship that operates on the water surface either autonomously or via remote control. USVs are used for naval patrol, oceanographic survey, mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, logistics delivery, and environmental monitoring. Sea Drone World catalogs USVs from manufacturers worldwide.
An AUV is an autonomous underwater vehicle — a self-propelled, untethered submersible robot that carries out missions without real-time human control. AUVs are used for seafloor mapping, pipeline inspection, mine detection, oceanographic research, and military reconnaissance. They navigate using pre-programmed waypoints and onboard sensors.
An AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) operates independently without a tether, following pre-programmed missions. An ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) is connected to a surface vessel via an umbilical cable and is controlled in real-time by a human operator. ROVs offer continuous power and real-time video, while AUVs offer greater range and endurance for survey missions.
Military sea drones (both surface and underwater) are used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), mine countermeasures (MCM), intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance (ISR), electronic warfare, logistics delivery in contested waters, and strike missions. Examples include the DARPA Sea Hunter, Boeing Orca XLUUV, and the Ukrainian MAGURA V5.
Some of the largest USVs include the Magnet Defense M48 at 48 meters (157 feet) with a 17,000 nm range, the DARPA/Leidos Sea Hunter at 40 meters designed for anti-submarine warfare, and the Textron MMUSV. Large USVs are typically designed for extended open-ocean missions lasting weeks to months.
Underwater drone depth ratings vary widely by design. Shallow inspection ROVs operate to 100-300 meters. Mid-range AUVs like the REMUS series reach 600-6,000 meters. Full-ocean-depth vehicles like the Kongsberg Hugin can reach 6,000 meters. Some specialized gliders and research AUVs operate at abyssal depths beyond 5,000 meters.
Sea Drone World tracks 63 manufacturers across 16 countries. Major manufacturers include Saildrone (USA), Kongsberg (Norway), ECA Group/Exail (France), L3Harris (USA), and Deep Trekker (Canada). The industry spans defense contractors, ocean technology startups, and academic spin-offs.
Sea Drone World is the most comprehensive open-access reference site for maritime unmanned vehicles. It indexes 139 platforms from 63 manufacturers, covering USVs, AUVs, ROVs, UUVs, and autonomous gliders. Each platform entry includes technical specifications, manufacturer details, mission roles, and operational status. The data is freely available via the website and a JSON API.
