Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market Size & Share

Updated on : Oct 22, 2024

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Market Size & Share

The global autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) market size is valued at USD 2.0 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 4.3 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 15.9% from 2024 to 2029.

Increasing investments in offshore oil & gas drilling, technological advancements in AUVs, and deployment of advanced technologies to ensure border and maritime security are driving the market for AUVs, whereas growing demand in offshore energy exploration creates a major opportunity for the growth of the AUV market.

Military & Defense, Oil & Gas, and Archeology and Exploration are among the top three application segments in the autonomous underwater vehicle market. The US is the largest market in North America, Germany is the largest market in Europe, and China is the largest market in the Asia Pacific region.  

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market Forecast & Statistics to 2028

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Impact of AI on the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Market Trends:

Driver: Shifting preference toward renewable energy sources

Alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind, waves, tides, and geothermal energy, are generally supported by environmentalists and environmental groups due to their sustainable and non-polluting nature. Many marine-based renewable energy technologies are in the early stages of development.

Thus, there is limited knowledge of the cost-effectiveness of large-scale ocean-based systems or their environmental effects. However, before investing in these upcoming renewable energy technologies, extensive R&D is required. AUVs play an essential role in inspection and R&D activities to help organizations find the best possible outcomes for investing in renewable energy sources.

Restraint: High development, operational, and maintenance costs

The operational costs of autonomous underwater vehicles are high. Factors contributing to this high overall cost are development & acquisition, maintenance & repair, personnel training, mission-specific costs, logistics & support, and data processing & analysis. For instance, the A-18 AUV of Exail Technologies (France), with a depth rating of up to 3,000 m, costs between USD 2-6 million.

The deployment costs of AUVs used in exploration or survey activities add to the cost of exploration and survey missions. Moreover, the high maintenance, manufacturing, research & development costs, along with system complexity, also result in their slow adoption.

Opportunity: Rising use of AUVs to protect subsea cables and seabed environment

Since 1985, underwater optical fiber cable has played a significant role in communications. It has numerous advantages, such as high reliability, large capacity, as well as an excellent communication quality. However, these cables are also vulnerable to potential hazards, such as turbulent currents, earthquakes, anchor drop, and so on.

To overcome such hazardous issues, two types of autonomous underwater vehicles are generally used. The first one is inspection AUVs that are equipped with high resolution cameras and sensors to inspect all kinds of damages in the cable, and the second category is work class AUVs, that are equipped with manipulator arms and other tools to perform underwater operations.

Challenges: Risk of data loss and prolonged research timelines due to challenging marine environment

Autonomous underwater vehicles can reach altitudes of less than 5 meters by their capability to dive close to the seabed and reach areas with low relief. This allows them to collect seafloor mapping, profiling, and imaging data with exceptional spatial resolution and navigational accuracy, surpassing surface vessels and towed instruments.

Therefore, AUVs can tackle challenging marine environments. Still, their survival in these settings is a concern, and there is a risk of losing valuable data due to natural hazards that could cause the loss of the vehicle.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market Map:

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market Segmentation:

The LED lighting segment in the autonomous underwater vehicle market is expected to grow at the highest rate by imaging technology during the forecast period.

The LED lighting segment under the imaging technology segment of the autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period from 2024 to 2029. Certain challenges related to underwater lighting, such as high pressure and limited light penetration, require specific LED types to overcome these challenges.

The LEDs used in autonomous underwater vehicles consume less power compared to other lights which helps to extend the battery life of the vehicle. Additionally, these lights are specially designed to withstand harsh underwater environments.

Torpedo segment accounts for the largest market share of the autonomous underwater vehicles market, by shape during the forecast period.

The Torpedo shaped segment of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) industry holds the largest market share and is expected to grow with the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The growth in this segment can be attributed to their ease of storage and launch from ships, aircraft, and helicopters without significant modifications.

Torpedo-shaped AUVs can be used for a range of applications such as underwater mapping & surveying, oceanography & environmental monitoring, and search & recovery operations.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Market Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific region is expected to exhibit the highest CAGR during forecast period.

The market for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period from 2024 to 2029; this region is also expected to hold the largest share of the AUV market by 2029.

The Asia Pacific region includes countries like China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and others where we find continuous growth in such countries' GDPs, especially China and India, and their respective increasing military expenditures over the years. Apart from this, demand for autonomous underwater vehicles for oceanographic research, and underwater sea exploration has increased in these countries in the past few years. All these factors are contributing to the high growth rate of the AUV market.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Market by Region

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Top AUV Comaines - Key Market Players

• Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (US),
• KONGSBERG (Norway),
• Fugro (Netherlands),
• Saab (Sweden),
• General Dynamics Corporation (US),
• Exail Technologies (France),
• Lockheed Martin Corporation (US),
• ATLAS ELEKTRONIK (Germany),
• L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (US),
• Boston Engineering (US), among others, are some key players operating in the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) companies.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Market Report Scope

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Market
Highlights

This research report categorizes the autonomous underwater vehicle market based on Technology, Type, Shape, Speed, Payload Type, Application, and Region.

Recent developments in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Industry

• In March 2024, Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (US) announced that it has agreed to acquire Valeport Holdings Limited (UK), which designs and manufactures underwater sensors for environmental, energy, construction, and defense applications.
• In February 2024, The Italian Ministry of Defence awarded KONGSBERG (Norway) a contract to supply a lightweight, unmanned submersible vehicle (AUV) capable of surveying shallow waters.
• In November 2022, Fugro (Netherlands) was awarded two geotechnical investigation contracts for the development of the Dutch IJmuiden Ver Site V-VI, Nederwiek (zuid) Site I, and Hollandse Kust (west) Site VIII offshore wind zones. It is one of the largest campaigns undertaken by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and part of the accelerated development by the Dutch Government in line with the Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap 2030.

Critical questions answered by this report:

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