Drones

The Navy's rising tide of UUVs

While the ocean depths are murky, the attraction of unmanned vehicles for undersea operations is not. Like their robotic counterparts in the air, on land and on the ocean surface, underwater craft are great for dull, dirty and dangerous tasks. They can search for and clear mines while their operators remain safely at a distance, map the ocean floor for monotonous mile after mile, or conduct surveillance of ships and harbors. A 2009 RAND Corp. study lays out a litany of possible UUV uses, including quick strikes from underwater craft quietly positioned close to their targets, anti-submarine warfare and cyber warfare by accessing underwater communications links.