Global Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Outlook
Revenue, 2024
$3.4B
Forecast, 2034
$11.3B
CAGR, 2025 - 2034
12.8%
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicles industry revenue is expected to be around $3.8 billion in 2025 and expected to showcase growth with 12.8% CAGR between 2025 and 2034. The autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) market has developed into a vital operational tool for underwater operations because Military & Defense and Oil & Gas applications combined represent 71.7% of market demand. The market serves Military & Defense and Oil & Gas applications because stakeholders need persistent surveillance and secure communications and cost efficient subsea inspection for their complex offshore operations. The Electric type autonomous underwater vehicle market achieved $2.66 billion in sales during 2025 because developers continue to enhance battery performance and underwater navigation systems which enable longer missions at lower operational expenses.
The autonomous underwater vehicle operates as a self directed unmanned underwater system which combines sonar technology with inertial guidance and sensor fusion to perform precise seabed mapping and pipeline inspection and oceanographic research without requiring support vessels through tethers. The system features three main components which include modular payload bays and adaptive mission planning software and robust communication suites that enable real time data transmission during surface operations to enhance operator decision speed for offshore oil and gas and scientific exploration and coastal surveillance missions. The increasing need for deepwater exploration safety and climate and biodiversity research and search and rescue operations has driven AUV adoption while developers work on autonomy algorithms and power management systems to enhance operational capabilities and draw investments from different industry sectors.
Market Key Insights
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market is projected to grow from $3.4 billion in 2024 to $11.3 billion in 2034. This represents a CAGR of 12.8%, reflecting rising demand across Military Defense, Oil Gas, and Environmental Monitoring.
The market competition stems from three major companies which include Kongsberg and Saab AB and Teledyne Technologies Incorporated.
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market depends on the United States and China as its leading customer bases which will experience growth at 11.5% to 15.4% CAGR from 2024 to 2030.
The market research predicts that India, Brazil and UAE will experience the most significant growth among emerging markets at a combined rate of 9.0% to 13.4% CAGR.
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market will experience $930 million additional growth until 2030 because of Transition like Transition to Integrated Subsea Infrastructure.
.The Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market will experience $7.9 billion growth during 2024 to 2034 because manufacturers focus on developing products for Oil & Gas and Environment protection and Monitoring applications which will dominate the market.
With
synergistic growth from offshore energy expansion and advanced seabed mapping boosting autonomous underwater vehicles deployment, and
Rapid advancements in underwater artificial intelligence and autonomy dramatically enhancing autonomous underwater vehicles operational efficiency, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market to expand 233% between 2024 and 2034.
Opportunities in the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Small autonomous underwater vehicles serve European offshore wind farm developers and pipeline operators for their need to perform low cost high frequency inspections of turbines and jackets and export lines. The combination of Compact AUVs and underwater robotics with high resolution sonar and AI navigation and advanced battery technology enables these systems to perform structural health monitoring tasks that currently require crewed vessels. The inspection and maintenance mission segment will also experience its fastest growth because global small type revenue projections show a 2.66 billion to 4.84 billion dollar increase during the 2030 period.
Growth Opportunities in North America and Asia-Pacific
The autonomous underwater vehicle market in North America leads all other regions because Military & Defense applications dominate the market because of ongoing naval development and security risks in oceanic approaches and the need for underwater surveillance operations. The competitive environment depends on defense primes who maintain long term partnerships with underwater robotics experts and academic institutions to create extended duration autonomous underwater vehicles which serve three main purposes of mine detection and anti submarine warfare assistance and seabed defense security. The top available opportunities focus on developing modular autonomous underwater vehicles with open architecture which enables quick integration with current command systems and control networks and also include reliable systems for inspecting vital underwater infrastructure including communication cables and offshore energy facilities. The defense industry needs investors and new market participants to establish their presence through interoperable payload systems and AI based autonomous systems for navigating complex coastal region's and extended maintenance agreements which follow defense procurement schedules.
The Asia Pacific region shows increasing demand for autonomous underwater vehicles which will primarily serve Oil & Gas operations because governments and operators in the region continue to develop deepwater and marginal field resources while they want to decrease operational expenses and inspection costs. The market contains various competitors who operate as global autonomous underwater vehicle suppliers while shipbuilders from specific regions and electronics companies and innovative startups which create customized systems for their respective ocean region's and regulatory requirements. The main factors driving growth stem from rising investments in offshore energy operations and expanding deployment of autonomous underwater vehicles for underwater inspection work and seabed mapping and marine research activities and enhanced environmental monitoring efforts in coastal region's vulnerable to disasters and ecological damage. The company should develop affordable robust autonomous underwater vehicles which operate well in tropical and monsoon prone ocean environments while offering survey as a service to national hydrographic and environmental agencies and establishing partnerships that bring manufacturing and maintenance and training operations to domestic locations for government security and localization needs.
Market Dynamics and Supply Chain
01
Driver: Synergistic growth from offshore energy expansion and advanced seabed mapping boosting autonomous underwater vehicles deployment
Offshore energy infrastructure expansion across the world has also created a growing need for autonomous underwater vehicles because operators want to replace human operated diving and remotely operated vehicles with safer and more affordable autonomous systems. AUVs perform continuous subsea inspection and pipeline inspection and asset integrity monitoring of complex offshore oil and gas field networks and expanding offshore wind farm installations. The market trend supports this development because organizations must also follow strict risk management regulations while their operational costs increase so they need robots that stay at sea for long periods to perform multiple surveys without needing much ship assistance. The development of high resolution seabed mapping technology has also created new opportunities for autonomous underwater vehicles to perform hydrographic surveys and route planning operations. The combination of modern multibeam and synthetic aperture sonars with enhanced inertial navigation systems enables accurate seabed mapping for subsea cable routes and port entry points and decommissioning operations and environmental studies and oceanographic investigations in deep and polar areas which were also previously unreachable.
Underwater AI continues to advance at a rapid pace which enables AUV to improve their mission planning abilities and their environmental perception and their immediate decision making processes. AUVs perform seabed feature classification and pipeline anomaly detection and obstacle avoidance through their embedded ML systems which combine onboard sensor data and adaptive autonomy functions. The system now operates with dynamic goal based behaviors instead of pre programmed routes which results in lower system downtime and better data quality and extended battery life. The development of power efficient processors together with edge computing systems enables operators to deploy multiple vehicles which work together to perform seabed mapping and mine countermeasures and infrastructure inspection tasks while needing only limited support from surface vessels.
02
Restraint: High acquisition and lifecycle costs restrict widespread adoption across commercial and scientific autonomous underwater vehicles markets
The high costs required for hull design and advanced sensors and navigation systems and charging infrastructure systems prevent smaller offshore energy operators and oceanographic research institutes from justifying autonomous underwater vehicle projects which results in extended procurement times and decreased AUV sales and reduced market revenue from increasing deepwater subsea inspection needs and underwater robotics adoption.
03
Opportunity: Indo Pacific naval modernization programs accelerating demand for networked AUV for persistent subsea surveillance and Deepwater oil and gas operators in Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico scaling large autonomous underwater vehicles
The Indo Pacific naval forces have selected medium and small AUV to improve their ability to detect mines and protect coastal areas and monitor underwater spaces. The combination of AUV groups operating with extended endurance and self guided mission execution enables them to protect vital ocean passages at sea lanes better than conventional naval patrol vessels. The worldwide market for medium type platforms will expand from 0.21 billion dollars to 0.33 billion dollars during the 2030 period but defense command system integration and joint exercises will create a larger market potential for these platforms in maritime security and reconnaissance operations.
The oil and gas industry operating in deepwater environments has started using big autonomous underwater vehicles to perform subsea inspection tasks and monitor reservoirs and maintain underwater infrastructure throughout Brazilian waters and the Gulf of Mexico region. These big AUVs operate with heavy equipment which combines sensor information through fusion processes to perform real time data analysis for faster ROV operations and shorter decision making times. The worldwide market for large type revenues will expand from 0.52 billion dollars to 1.04 billion dollars during 2030 while achieving the highest growth rate to support complex deepwater development and decommissioning operations.
04
Challenge: Operational complexity, limited skilled workforce and regulatory uncertainty slow deployment of advanced AUV fleets
The operation of AUV becomes difficult because complex mission planning software and data management issues and demanding maintenance work require specialized personnel who are scarce in maritime defense and environmental monitoring and commercial surveying industries thus projects get delayed and clients accept reduced contract sizes and safe testing of new systems which restricts service based revenue growth and prevents the market from reaching its projected growth potential.
Supply Chain Landscape
1
Underwater Robotics Components
Teledyne Technologies IncorporatedSaab AB
2
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
KongsbergGeneral Dynamics Corporation
3
Subsea Inspection Services
Lockheed Martin CorporationKongsberg
4
Oceanographic Survey
Offshore energyNaval defenseOceanographic research
1
Underwater Robotics Components
Teledyne Technologies IncorporatedSaab AB
2
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
KongsbergGeneral Dynamics Corporation
3
Subsea Inspection Services
Lockheed Martin CorporationKongsberg
4
Oceanographic Survey
Offshore energyNaval defenseOceanographic research
Use Cases of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in Military Defense & Oil Gas
Military Defense : The military sector along with defense operations represent the biggest market for autonomous underwater vehicles because they will produce USD 1.58 billion in 2025 while their market value will increase by 11.1% annually because naval forces continue to develop underwater robotic systems for intelligence gathering and surveillance and reconnaissance and mine clearance operations. The end user depends on big AUV to perform extended blue water surveillance and secret missions but uses medium sized AUVs for specific search operations in designated region's and small systems for tactical operations in coastal waters although these systems make up 78.3% of total AUV requirements. The domain features General Dynamics Corporation and Lockheed Martin Corporation as leading entities because they operate combat tested unmanned underwater vehicles which serve as part of essential naval programs. Saab AB maintains its position as a leading company because it develops AUVs which function as torpedoes for anti submarine training and mine warfare operations. The survey grade platforms from Kongsberg provide robust functionality which enables allied fleets to perform high precision seabed mapping and situational awareness operations.
Oil Gas : The oil and gas industry operates as one of the fastest expanding markets for AUV because their 2025 revenue reached USD 0.85 billion while their business will expand at 14.1% annually because of deepwater field development and subsea inspection requirements that need shorter vessel durations. The system uses small AUVs for standard pipeline and infrastructure assessment because they offer affordable prices and simple deployment and retrieval procedures. The system uses medium and large platforms for performing extensive surveys and detailed seabed mapping and complex construction tasks in difficult offshore conditions. The market segment receives its leading technology supply from Kongsberg and Teledyne Technologies Incorporated which provides survey class AUVs with reliable operation and multibeam sonar technology and flexible payload capabilities. Saab AB operates in a specific market segment through its development of modular systems which operate well in extreme underwater environments. Defense companies now use dual purpose platforms to gain access to additional customers who need integrated energy security solutions.
Environmental Monitoring : The market for AUV in environmental monitoring shows strong growth potential because it produced USD 0.52 billion in 2025 while experts predict it will expand at 16.3% CAGR through 2025 because of increasing interest from coastal authorities and research institutions and regulatory bodies who want to study oceanographic climate change effects and protect marine ecosystems. The system depends on small AUVs which represent the majority of deployed units because they offer affordable prices and simple operation from small boats and enable detailed environmental data collection through numerous sensors across extensive coastal and ocean regions. The market leaders Kongsberg and Teledyne Technologies Incorporated provide scientifically validated AUV platforms which enable researchers to conduct water quality and habitat and carbon cycle studies with flexible sensor payloads. The companies Saab AB and General Dynamics Corporation and Lockheed Martin Corporation expand their market share through their development of dual use unmanned underwater vehicles which use military technology to perform extended environmental and maritime security operations.
Recent Developments
The development of autonomous underwater vehicles has experienced fast progress because researchers have integrated sensors and navigation systems and adaptive mission control systems for offshore energy operations and environmental monitoring and naval defense applications. Manufacturers now use AI powered autonomy systems together with long endurance batteries and modular payloads to enhance their deep sea exploration and oceanographic research capabilities. The market shows a major trend which involves using underwater drone swarms together with hybrid remotely operated vehicles to collect marine data at affordable costs while maintaining continuous operations.
July 2023 : Saab AB has acquired BlueBear Systems Group which operates as a UK based company that specializes in AI based autonomous systems and sensor data combination to enhance Saabs ability for developing sophisticated autonomous underwater vehicles and multi domain unmanned systems. The acquisition will drive faster development of underwater robotic systems while creating enhanced market competition for autonomous underwater vehicles worldwide.
May 2023 : The Department of Defence together with Anduril Industries established the Ghost Shark program through co funding to create an expanded autonomous underwater vehicle which would perform extended covert submarine operations for the Royal Australian Navy. The defense sector will receive increased funding for unmanned underwater vehicles which will create new research opportunities and business alliances and enhanced market requirements for defense oriented autonomous underwater vehicles.
January 2023 : Kongsberg Gruppen established its new business area Kongsberg Discovery through the separation of its former Sensors and Robotics division which brought together HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles and their related systems and multibeam sonar and subsea positioning capabilities to create a more focused business structure.
Impact of Industry Transitions on the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market
As a core segment of the Defense Systems industry,
the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market develops in line with broader industry shifts.
Over recent years, transitions such as Transition to Integrated Subsea Infrastructure and Shift to Intelligent AUV Fleets have redefined priorities
across the Defense Systems sector,
influencing how the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles market evolves in terms of demand, applications and competitive dynamics.
These transitions highlight the structural changes shaping long-term growth opportunities.
01
Transition to Integrated Subsea Infrastructure
The AUV market is poised for a significant transformation, projected to achieve an additional $930 million in growth by 2030, largely driven by the strategic shift towards integrated subsea infrastructure. This transition is redefining offshore energy and subsea asset management by supplanting traditional survey methods with advanced AUVs that enable continuous, automated monitoring and high resolution seabed mapping. By reducing dependence on expensive surface vessels and enhancing operational efficiency, AUVs are minimizing disruptions in offshore wind turbine operations and bolstering asset integrity management. This evolution underscores the critical role of AUVs in ensuring the stability and reliability of global subsea systems, positioning them as essential tools for the future of marine operations.
02
Shift to Intelligent AUV Fleets
The industry now moves from using independent AUV to operating AI powered fleets which perform coordinated ocean missions across extensive ocean regions. The systems use their advanced autonomy and real time data fusion capabilities to revolutionize oceanographic research by allowing scientists to collect data from evolving marine environments and they enhance defense operations through vehicle teams that perform patrols and fast anomaly identification. The development process supports current maritime logistics and subsea construction operations because collaborative vehicles perform complex tasks while protecting humans from risks and speeding up decision processes in dangerous underwater conditions.