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.
Dynautics will showcase its latest marine technologies designed for uncrewed surface and subsea missions at the Seawork 2026 exhibition in... The post Dynautics To Unveil Marine Autopilot & Modular Subsea Vehicles appeared first on Unmanne…
Surface autonomy remains a key indicator of maritime robotics adoption.
Cellula Robotics US Inc. and Metron, Inc. have entered into a 10-year agreement to deliver integrated Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)... The post Cellula Robotics & Metron Partner to Deliver Next-Gen AUV Systems appeared first on Unman…
Underwater autonomy remains a key signal for naval and offshore capability.
SYOS has introduced the SU10 uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) to extend and strengthen its multi-domain autonomous uncrewed portfolio across air, land, sea to subsurface.The SU10 is designed for mine countermeasures (MCM), critical subsea…
Underwater autonomy remains a key signal for naval and offshore capability.
Saildrone has announced it will deploy 10 Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) during the 2026 hurricane season to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in its mission to forecast hurricanes, pro…
Surface autonomy remains a key indicator of maritime robotics adoption.
Phoenix International has announced their expansion into the rocket booster recovery sector, supporting commercial and government launch programs with advanced subsea search and recovery capabilities.Using our proven Remora Remotely Operat…
ROV activity keeps subsea inspection and intervention capacity visible.
The Australian Government is strengthening its nation’s ability to operate autonomous underwater vehicles with three Australian companies awarded contracts to develop new undersea navigation technology.As part of Defence’s Advanced Strateg…
Underwater autonomy remains a key signal for naval and offshore capability.
Showing 78 total news items across 35 archived daily runs. The site reads this data from /api/news.
SYOS Aerospace has introduced the SU10 uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) to extend and strengthen its multi-domain autonomous uncrewed portfolio across air, land, sea to subsurface. The post SYOS Aerospace introduces SU10 uncrewed underwat…
Hyliion Holdings Corp., a developer of modular power plant technology, announced that the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has selected the USX-1 Defiant…
Cellula Robotics US Inc. and Metron, Inc. have signed a 10-year agreement to deliver a combined solution for the United States defense market, bringing together Cellula's commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) long-endurance autonomous underwater…
HII, in partnership with MetalCraft Marine, has delivered and sea tested two unmanned surface vessels (USV) awarded in a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract for smaller form factor autonomous boat prototypes for the US Marine Corps.
HII, in partnership with MetalCraft Marine, has delivered and sea-tested two unmanned surface vessels (USVs) awarded under a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract for smaller-form-factor autonomous boat prototypes for the US Marine Corps.…
BlackSea Technologies recently participated in Arctic Sentry 2026, a NATO enhanced vigilance activity in the High North, demonstrating its Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) in Ramsund, Norway, alongside partners from U.S. 6th F…
Shield AI and Thunder Tiger Corp. announced a memorandum of understanding to integrate Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software across Thunder Tiger’s unmanned systems portfolio, beginning with unmanned surface vessels (USV). As a first mile…
The proliferation of autonomous platforms—from uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (XLAUVs)—is reshaping how hybrid navies operate in contested waters wher…
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.
