Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market by Shape (Torpedo, Laminar Flow Body, Streamlined Rectangular Style, Multi-hull Vehicle), Type (Shallow, Medium, & Large AUVs), Technology (Imaging, Navigation, Propulsion), Payload – Global Forecast to 2028
[264 Pages Report] The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market was valued at USD 1.6 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 4.9 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 22.4% from 2023 to 2028. Factors such as the high operational costs of AUVs are restraints for the market's growth.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market Forecast to 2028
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Market Dynamics:
Driver: Rising defense spending in several countries worldwide
Security issues, concerns over contested territories, and threats have significantly increased defense spending worldwide. For instance, according to new data on global military expenditure published on April 2023 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the total global military expenditure increased by 3.7% in real terms in 2022 to reach USD 2240 billion. The three largest spenders in 2022—the US, China, and Russia—accounted for 56% of the world's total.
According to the US intelligence community's Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) 2023, Beijing will continue to apply pressure and offer inducements for Taiwan to move toward unification. It will react to what it views as increased US–Taiwan engagement. Beijing may build on its actions from 2022, which could include more Taiwan Strait centerline crossings or missile overflights of Taiwan. In the South China Sea, Beijing will continue to use growing numbers of air, naval, coast guard, and militia forces to intimidate rival claimants and to attempt to signal that China has effective control over contested areas. Similarly, China is pressuring Japan over contested areas in the East China Sea.
Countries across the world are using forefront technologies to safeguard their borders against underwater threats. In the present global scenario, there has been an increase in threats from pirates, terrorists, and seafarers. This is creating security issues across marine borders. For instance, in July 2021, there was an attack by pirates on an oil tanker (that was linked to an Israel-based billionaire) off Oman in the Arabian Sea. Also, according to a UN report in 2019, seabeds are becoming a tangle of ungoverned seabed cables, posing a new threat to international peace and security.
Restraint: High operational costs of AUVs
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have high operational costs. Several factors that contribute to the overall cost of operating AUVs are development and acquisition, maintenance and repairs, training, and personnel, mission-specific costs, logistics and support, and data processing and analysis. These are expensive maritime systems. For instance, the A18 AUV (Exail Technologies SA), with a depth rating of up to 3,000 m, has a cost ranging from USD 2–6 million. The deployment costs of AUVs used in exploration or surveying activities add to the actual cost of exploration and surveying missions. Moreover, the prohibitive costs of maintenance, manufacturing, research & development, and system complexity associated with AUVs also result in slow adoption. However, they are increasingly used in simple missions such as environmental monitoring.
Opportunity: Upcoming expansion of Internet through 5G driving demand for underwater cables
Since the first underwater optical fiber cable came out in 1985, underwater cable systems have played a key role in the field of cross-continental communications. These systems offer several advantages, such as large capacity, high reliability, and excellent communication quality. However, underwater telecommunication cables are prone to suffer from potentially hazardous or environmental damages caused by natural causes, such as earthquakes and turbulent currents, or human activities (anchoring and fishing gear). AUVs are used extensively to resolve these issues. Also, AUVs are used in the maintenance and damage recovery for underwater connectors (also known as marine connectors or subsea connectors). These connectors are designed to withstand extreme environments, including corrosive seawater and pressure and vibration and shock, but they can sometimes fail in harsh ocean environments.
It is essential to track the cable route to inspect the condition of the buried cable and protect its surviving seabed environment. Several technologies, such as underwater cameras, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profilers, and magnetic sensors, are used for these applications. However, to find these types of cables, the magnetic sensors embedded inside AUVs are used widely for tracking the cable route.
Challenges: Operational hindrances such as natural ocean hazards and bad ocean weather
Deep-water AUVs can dive close to the seabed (<5 m altitude in areas of low relief). This means that they can collect seafloor mapping, profiling, and imaging data with far higher spatial resolution and navigational accuracy than surface vessels and towed instruments. As a result, AUVs are widely used in these challenging environments. AUVs are currently used in different applications, such as oceanography and archeology. However, AUV survival is a concern in these environments. Consequently, the data being gathered by AUVs could be lost because of the risk of vehicle loss due to natural hazards. This factor not only has financial implications (resulting from equipment loss) but also can result in increased research timelines due to the loss of important data.
Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market Map:
By technology, the imaging segment in the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market is expected to grow at the highest growth rate during the forecast period.
The imaging segment of the market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The imaging systems used in AUVs can capture pictures of the seabed and surrounding areas, which help researchers in oceanography or habitat research studies. Advancements in imaging technologies are expected to lead to increased use of AUVs in the oil & gas industry to conduct inspection activities. They are also used in the military & defense sector to conduct search operations
Torpedo segment account for the largest market share of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market, by shape, during the forecast period.
The Torpedo segment of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market by shape holds the largest market share and is expected to grow with the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the ease of storage and launch of torpedo shaped AUVs from ships, aircraft, and helicopters without significant modifications. The drag of these AUVs is the second-best after laminar flow body AUVs. But torpedo shaped AUVs are preferred over laminar flow body AUVs as they are stable and hence offer a good balance between speed and stability. Torpedo-shaped AUVs can be used for a wide range of applications. Moreover, their hulls have more surface area than laminar flow body AUVs, which makes them highly suitable for deepwater applications.
Asia Pacific region is expected to exhibit the highest CAGR during forecast period.
The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market in the Asia Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period; this region is likely to hold a largest share of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market by 2028. The rising demand for energy, along with the high GDP growth rate of emerging economies such as China and India, is creating significant growth opportunities for the oil & gas industry and hence, for AUV manufacturers in Asia Pacific. For instance, India has adopted Adamya AUV with a depth rating of 1,500 m. It can be launched from submarine torpedo tubes and surface ships. Adamya AUV can be used for hydrographic surveys, underwater mine detection and countermeasure operations, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market by Region
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Key Market Players
Kongsberg Group ASA (Norway), Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (US), General Dynamics Corporation (US), Saab AB (Sweden), Exail Technologies SA (France), Lockheed Martin Corporation (US), Fugro N.V. (Netherlands), ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH (Germany), Boston Engineering Corporation (US), L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (US), Graal Tech S.r.l. (Italy), International Submarine Engineering Limited (Canada), and Boeing (US) are some key players operating in the market.
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Report Metric |
Details |
Estimated Market Size | USD 1.6 billion in 2022 |
Projected Market Size | USD 4.9 billion by 2028 |
Growth Rate | CAGR of 22.4% |
Market size available for years |
2019–2028 |
Base year considered |
2022 |
Forecast period |
2023–2028 |
Forecast units |
USD Million/Billion |
Segments covered |
Technology, Type, Shape, Payload Type, application, and Region. |
Regions covered |
North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and RoW |
Companies covered |
Some of the leading companies operating in the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market are Kongsberg Group ASA (Norway), Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (US), General Dynamics Corporation (US), Saab AB (Sweden), Exail Technologies SA (France), Lockheed Martin Corporation (US), Fugro N.V. (Netherlands), ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH (Germany), Boston Engineering Corporation (US), L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (US), Graal Tech S.r.l. (Italy), International Submarine Engineering Limited (Canada), and Boeing (US). Some of the new entrants in the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market include Riptide Autonomous Solutions (US), Tianjin Sublue Ocean Science & Technology Co., Ltd (China), Falmouth Scientific, Inc. (FSI) (China), Terradepth (US), ecoSUB Robotics Limited (UK), Eelume AS (Norway), BaltRobotics Sp.z.o.o. (Poland), and Hydromea SA (Switzerland). |
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market Highlights
This research report categorizes the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market based on Technology, Type, Shape, Payload Type, application, and Region.
Segment |
Subsegment |
By Technology |
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By Type |
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By Shape |
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By Payload Type |
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By Application |
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Recent developments
- In February 2023, the US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin Corporation a contract to integrate the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) weapon system onto ZUMWALT-class guided missile destroyers (DDGs). CPS is a hypersonic boost-glide weapon system that enables long-range missile flight at speeds greater than Mach 5, with high survivability against enemy defenses.
- In October 2022, Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. (Poland) awarded a contract to Kongsberg Group ASA (Norway) to supply three shipsets of its HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) systems and related HiPAP positioning and communication systems for the Polish Navy’s thee newbuilt warships.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What are the key strategies adopted by key companies in the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market?
Product launches, acquisitions, and collaborations have been and continue to be some of the major strategies the key players adopted to grow in the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market.
What region dominates the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market?
The Asia Pacific region will dominate the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market.
What application dominates the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market?
Military & defense applications are expected to dominate the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market.
Which shape from the shape segment dominates the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market?
Torpedo shaped AUVs are expected to have the largest market size during the forecast period.
Who are the major autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market companies?
Kongsberg Group ASA (Norway), Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (US), General Dynamics Corporation (US), Saab AB (Sweden), and Fugro N.V. (Netherlands).
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The study involved four major activities in estimating the current size of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market—exhaustive secondary research collected information on the market and its peer and parent markets. The next step was to validate these findings, assumptions, and sizing with industry experts across the value chain through primary research. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches were employed to estimate the total market size. After that, market breakdown and data triangulation were used to estimate the market size of segments and subsegments.
Secondary Research
Various secondary sources have been referred to in the secondary research process for identifying and collecting information important for this study. These secondary sources include silicon photonics technology journals and magazines, annual reports, press releases, investor presentations of companies, white papers, certified publications and articles from recognized authors, and directories and databases such as Factiva, Hoovers, and OneSource.
Primary Research
Various primary sources from both supply and demand sides have been interviewed in the primary research process to obtain qualitative and quantitative information important for this report. The primary sources from the supply side included industry experts such as CEOs, VPs, marketing directors, technology and innovation directors, and related executives from key companies and organizations operating in the silicon photonics market. After complete market engineering (including calculations regarding market statistics, market breakdown, market size estimations, market forecasting, and data triangulation), extensive primary research was conducted to gather information as well as to verify and validate the critical numbers arrived at.
To know about the assumptions considered for the study, download the pdf brochure
Market Size Estimation
In the complete market estimation process, both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been implemented, along with several data triangulation methods, to estimate and validate the size of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market and other dependent submarkets listed in this report.
- Extensive secondary research has identified key players in the industry and market.
- In terms of value, the industry’s supply chain and market size have been determined through primary and secondary research processes.
- All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns have been determined using secondary sources and verified through primary sources.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (Auv) Market: Bottom-Up Approach
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (Auv) Market: Top-Down Approach
Data Triangulation
After arriving at the overall market size from the estimation process explained above, the global market has been split into several segments and subsegments. Market breakdown and data triangulation procedures have been employed wherever applicable to complete the overall market engineering process and arrive at exact statistics for all segments and subsegments. The data has been triangulated by studying several factors and trends identified from both the demand and supply sides.
Market Definition
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles AUVs are unmanned underwater robots. As their name suggests, AUVs operate independently of humans, without any physical connection to their operators, who may be on shores or ships. AUVs are self-guiding and self-powered vehicles. They can glide from the sea surface to ocean depths and back. Solar-powered AUVs can spend a portion of their time at the surface, blurring the distinction between undersea and surface vehicles. The adoption of AUVs for oil & gas applications is currently driving the growth of the market owing to the growing capital expenditure (CAPEX) in the oil & gas sector. Adopting swarm technology to reduce the mission duration is the innovative technology trend observed in the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market.
Key Stakeholders
- Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
- Technology solution providers
- Research institutes
- Market research and consulting firms
- Forums, alliances, and associations
- Technology investors
- Governments and financial institutions
- Analysts and strategic business planners
- End users
Report Objectives
The following are the primary objectives of the study.
- To define, describe, and forecast the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market, by technology, type, shape, payload type, application, and geography, in terms of value
- To describe and forecast the market size across 4 key regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW), along with their respective country-level market size, in terms of value
- To provide detailed information regarding the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges pertaining to the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market
- To strategically analyze the micromarkets1 with respect to the individual growth trends, prospects, and their contribution to the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market
- To map competitive intelligence based on company profiles, key player strategies, and key developments
- To provide a detailed overview of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) value chain and ecosystem
- To provide information about the key technology trends and patents related to the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market
- To provide information regarding trade data related to the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market
- To analyze opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying high-growth segments of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) ecosystem
- To benchmark the market players using the proprietary company evaluation matrix framework, which analyzes them on various parameters within the broad categories of market ranking/share and product portfolio
- To analyze competitive developments such as contracts, acquisitions, product launches and developments, collaborations, and partnerships, along with research & development (R&D), in the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market
- To analyze the impact of recession on the growth of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market
Available Customizations
With the given market data, MarketsandMarkets offers customizations according to a company’s specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:
Company Information:
- Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to 5)
Growth opportunities and latent adjacency in Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market
Have you profiled L3Harris technologies? I believe they are one of the top vendors in the AUV market. Apart from the one's mentioned in the company profile chapter what other companies have profiled?
I want to speak to the analyst who wrote this to get more insight for an article about the growth and potential (and pitfalls) of the underwater drone market. Also would like to understand the methodology for the same.
Hi, We are a start up company and would very much like to view this report but we don't have 5k or 8k to do so, do you have any deals that you can offer us as a start up company? Also would like to understand the payloads such as cameras, sensors, etc. and their use in Torpedo's.
Can you provide me comparitive qualitative and quantitave analysis of ROV and AUV? Make sure to provide unit shipments and ASP of ROV and AUV. Also provide me the top 10 vendors in the ROV market.
Is there any scope for new entrants in the market? If yes please provide me few start-ups in the market along with entry barriers in the market. Information on best practices in the market will also be well appriciated.
Have you provided information on ASP and unit shipment of each type of AUV i.e., shallow, medium and large? Can you also provide me both qualitative and quantitative information on each type and its application along with top vendors in each type?
Neptune has recently completed its first deep water AUV survey in oil and gas. However, I would appreciate more information on defense, scientific and geography markets across all water depths as we have not had much visibility on this and believe we can use our vehicle for numerous purposes.
How AUVs are associated with the environmental protection and oceanography?
Hello, I am a PhD student in Engineering/Oceanography concentrating on the technological development of AUVs. Would it be possible to request a sample of this report? Are there any discounts available for students at academic institutions who are using this information for research?
Have been involved for many years now in providing Logistic/Customs Support Services to Clients who operate AUV Systems Worldwide. What are the latest trends of AUVs in military and defense and oil & gas industries
What are the various Technologies and Types covered in the research. Also I would like to understand the opportunities and how government initiatives would be a driving factor for this market>?
I would like to understand about acquisitions and or technology purchases made by market players (purchases of startups, R&D firms or purchases of licenses form universities etc..) in the AUV market. Have you covered this in your scope?
Does your report have information on AUV batteries and various types of AUV batteries? Also can you provide me quantitative information on various AUV batteries? It should also include upcoming AUV battery technologies along with top vendor in each AUV battery type.
Hello. I am the founder of a newly formed autonomous underwater vehicle and I am interested in this report so we can better identify our target markets and customers. Also I would like to know the major areas that have been covered in this market.
We are a team of Electrical Engineering students from ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) developing an AUV with an open source system for our capstone design project. The project is being developed for academicals maritime research purposes needed in Indonesia as it is the largest archipelago in the world. We request access for this pdf because we need a source of information for researching the global market for AUV development, as the Indonesian market for undersea exploration is currently very limited.