page_title: Autonomous underwater vehicle
section_title: Military applications
hierarchical_section_title: Autonomous underwater vehicle / Applications / Military applications
caption_attribution_description: English: 141104-N-WB378-003 GULF OF OMAN (Nov. 4, 2014) Aerographer’s Mate 2nd Class Robert Carlson, left, and Aerographer’s Mate 1st Class Melvin Lankford, assigned to Commander, Task Group 56.1, deploy a MK 18 MOD 2 Swordfish to survey the ocean floor during the International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX). With a quarter of the world's navies participating, including 6,500 Sailors from every region, IMCMEX is the largest international naval exercise promoting maritime security and the free-flow of trade through mine countermeasure operations, maritime security operations, and maritime infrastructure protection in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility and throughout the world.
context_page_description: An autonomous underwater vehicle is a robot that travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes non-autonomous remotely operated underwater vehicles – controlled and powered from the surface by an operator/pilot via an umbilical or using remote control. In military applications an AUV is more often referred to as an unmanned undersea vehicle. Underwater gliders are a subclass of AUVs.
context_section_description: The U.S. Navy Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Master Plan identified the following UUV's missions: 
  Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
  Mine countermeasures
  Anti-submarine warfare
  Inspection/identification
  Oceanography
  Communication/navigation network nodes
  Payload delivery
  Information operations
  Time-critical strikes
  The Navy Master Plan divided all UUVs into four classes:
  Man-portable vehicle class: 25–100 lb displacement; 10–20 hours endurance; launched from small water craft manually (i.e., Mk 18 Mod 1 Swordfish UUV)
  Lightweight vehicle class: up to 500 lb displacement, 20–40 hours endurance; launched from RHIB using launch-retriever system or by cranes from surface ships (i.e., Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish UUV)
  Heavyweight vehicle class: up to 3,000 lb displacement, 40–80 hours endurance, launched from submarines
  Large vehicle class: up to 10 long tons displacement; launched from surface ships and submarines
caption: MK 18 MOD 1 Swordfish UUV
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