Page 38: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2026)

FEATURE UNDERWATER VEHICLES

RISING EXPECTATIONS:

A DEEP DIVE ON

UNDERWATER

VEHICLES

Credit: Box? sh Robotics

By Celia Konowe nderwater vehicles have solidi? ed their posi- Ocean and ecoSUB Robotics, an operating division of Plant tion, with autonomous and remotely operated Ocean. ecoSUB demonstrated a multi-use ? eet in their 2021- platforms becoming core operational tools 2023 SoAR (Squads of Adaptive Robots) project, which coor- across offshore, defense, inspection and main- dinated a large-scale survey and exploration mission designed,

Utenance, exploration and marine science appli- monitored and adapted in real-time by an intelligent “Autonomy cations. As the subsea industry rapidly evolves to keep pace Engine.” The SoAR ? eet consisted of ecoSUB's Autonomous with global trends, several de? ning themes emerge amongst Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), the National Oceanography Cen- leading vehicle companies—multi-use, usability, visibility, tre's Auto-Hover 1 hover-capable platform, and Sonardyne’s endurance and, unsurprisingly, autonomy. REAV-60 Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) “Decibel.”

Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems

MULTI-USE group in HII's Mission Technologies division noted that the

As underwater vehicles assume more responsibility, there is scale of underwater vehicles is growing. “Customers are mov- a noticeable shift away from standalone, single-domain ve- ing away from buying one or two vehicles for experimenta- hicles in favor of ? eets of autonomous platforms, deployable tion and toward ? eet-level quantities. That shift signals that on the surface, in the air and under the waves. unmanned undersea systems are transitioning from trials into “The most common theme we see is the ability to operate in sustained, operational use with real training, logistics and life- multi-vehicle autonomous teams with other platforms,” said cycle expectations.”

Terry Sloane, founder, owner and managing director of Planet

USABILITY

User experience holds enormous weight for customers shop- ping for underwater vehicles. Systems need to be ef? cient, customizable and ultimately useful for the desired work. “Customers want systems that can handle uncertainty, oper- ate with limited communications, and integrate smoothly into broader maritime forces that include crewed ships, aircraft and other unmanned platforms,” said Fotheringham. “They're also looking for reduced operator burden.” “We’re also seeing strong demand for smaller, more portable platforms that don’t require large vessels or complex logistics

Credit: ecoSUB 38 January/February 2026

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