Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) Sector Report

The first recognised use of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) as part of a live mine countermeasures operation occurred in March 2003, when US Navy mine warfare elements deployed as part of Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’ took the Hydroid REMUS 100 system into the shallow waters of the Northern Arabian Gulf and used its side-scan sonar to systematically map the approaches into the port of Umm Qasr. The intervening period has seen a handful of navies introduce UUVs into their frontline MCM order-of-battle. Many others have acquired limited numbers of UUVs for trials and experimentation purposes, with most identifying MCM reconnaissance and route survey as their initial interest.

Editor's note: Learn more about UUVs at the 8th Annual Underwater Battlespace conference.