Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Untethered, programmable underwater vehicle that executes a survey mission autonomously, typically using inertial navigation aided by Doppler velocity log and acoustic positioning. AUVs run pre-planned tracks at 2–4 knots for hours to days carrying multibeam sonar, sub-bottom profiler, magnetometer, or environmental sensor packages. Hydrographic AUVs collect bathymetry far faster than a vessel-mounted system over deep water; military AUVs perform mine-countermeasures and intelligence work. Power endurance and acoustic communications bandwidth remain the technology constraints driving AUV class selection.