Global Developments in Sea-based Unmanned Crafts

Sea-based unmanned crafts are increasingly being used by navies across the globe because of their utility and multi-mission capabilities. The future of naval warfare will be driven by unmanned systems thereby reducing the risk to human lives. This article explores the sea-based unmanned crafts that includes a survey of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) for military use. It includes a description of sea-based unmanned crafts, the present doctrines and standards, technology advancements and applications. This work presents the challenges and legal issues in deploying such technologies, global developments with their typical applications and the prospects of their applicability. In the future, it is believed that with the imminent fusion of the military–civil and the academia, unmanned systems will be used widely in civil and military matters.