Handy Helpers: Electric Underwater Tools and Manipulators
crucial place in maritime operations, providing support across multiple industries, reaching remote locations despite extreme conditions and reducing risk to workers. They function as surrogate eyes and ears where we cannot be, and for periods of time longer than many humans could manage. However, underwater systems reach beyond observational abilities—literally. Tools and manipulators broaden the capabilities of vehicles, allowing them to perform a variety of subsea tasks.Reaching new depths“One of the most significant trends we are seeing is the growing expectation that inspection-class vehicles
The Power of Persistence
enables the mission-critical endurance necessary to maintain a persistent subsea presence.For years, the dominant underwater power paradigm has been stored energy. With their high energy density, scalability, and mature manufacturing base, lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries have been the standard for underwater systems for defense and commercial customers alike. But Li-ion’s long-standing dominance could be giving way as onboard energy production, in the form of hydrogen fuel cells, is steadily gaining traction.While a relatively new innovation for autonomous underwater operations, hydrogen fuel cells
SEABER MARVEL Micro-AUV Maps Beach for Littoral Reconnaissance
operational constraints.Combat divers offer high precision but are slow, cover limited areas, and face serious exposure risks in contested environments. Towed sonar systems provide better coverage but remain highly detectable from the surface and perform poorly in shallow waters. Small autonomous underwater systems improve discretion but rely on basic 2D sonar payloads and require frequent surfacing for GPS recalibration, preventing them from generating the high-resolution three-dimensional seabed models that modern operations demand.The MARVEL-3DSSThe SEABER MARVEL micro-AUV measures 12 centimeters in
KONGSBERG, DRASS Partner for Underwater Solutions
of technologies, systems, payloads, and operational architectures, combining the companies’ complementary industrial strengths, technical expertise, and operational experience to develop advanced underwater solutions.“Our goal is to develop highly capable, scalable, and interoperable underwater systems that meet changing operational and defense needs. This includes unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) solutions, and manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T),” says Espen Henriksen, Senior Vice President Uncrewed Platforms at KONGSBERG
Saab UK Hosts Youth STEM Challenge
event took place at Saab UK’s center of excellence for underwater robotics, which officially opened in February 2025, supporting global offshore and subsea operations. Hosting the competition offered pupils rare insight into a working engineering environment and the people behind cutting‑edge underwater systems
Automatic docking as an enabling technology for the operational autonomy of underwater systems
For a long time, the operational autonomy of underwater systems has been constrained by the inability to ensure persistent operations without direct human intervention. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), while capable of carrying out pre-programmed missions along the water column or on the seabed, have historically required physical recovery at the end of each operational cycle for energy recharging, data transfer and mission reconfiguration.This dependence on surface operations has represented one of the main bottlenecks in the development of long-term marine observation infrastructures, significan
Fincantieri Unit WASS Wins $237M Saudi Navy Torpedo Contract
, is currently in service with the navies of Italy and more than 10 other countries and can be deployed from surface vessels and aircraft.“This contract represents a milestone for WASS and for the entire Fincantieri Group. It confirms the technological excellence and reliability of our underwater systems, as well as our ability to operate as a trusted partner in highly strategic and complex defense programs,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Fincantieri.The contract marks WASS’s first direct agreement with the Saudi Ministry of Defense
NUWC Division Newport Looks to Build Partnerships, Hosts Rhode Island Commerce Officials
of the Undersea Warfare (USW) Weapons, Vehicles, and Defensive Systems Department, provided a brief history of the warfare center’s involvement with torpedo development and an overview of the U.S. Navy’s only land-based facility for full system mechanical testing for torpedoes and other underwater systems. Eric Warner, a mechanical engineer in the USW Weapons, Vehicles, and Defensive Systems Department, explained the work done in the Mechanics of Materials Laboratory before the tour wrapped up with a stop in the Anechoic Chamber, a dual-use facility for advanced studies in active noise
The SeaVorian Group Becomes RTsys Group
solutions for understanding and observing marine and underwater environments, leveraging the group's expertise along with partner technologies integrated into tailor-made systems.RTsys Survey & Data Services: offshore data collection services using towed, remotely operated, or autonomous underwater systems, complemented by data analysis and processing for end users.This new identity coincides with the relocation of all Lorient-based teams to a new site as of January 2026, tripling the group's production capacity and positioning it firmly towards performance and innovation.The company Mappem
August 2026
