Designing for autonomy in unmanned underwater vehicles

The number and variety of unmanned vehicles tasked with operational support of Navy missions has increased significantly over the past decade. This trend continues under the direction of CNO to utilize these technologies for reduced cost and risk in future military applications. As the use of these assets expands across all forces, expectations in the capabilities and performance of unmanned vehicles continue to grow to meet increasingly complex mission profiles and relative reductions in operator:platform ratios. Technology can address some of these expectations through improvements to hardware, system design, and software. These upgrades have had significant impact in the warfighting effect to date, and they will continue to be a substantial component of overall effectiveness of unmanned vehicles.