Engineered underwater ROVs and AUVs are the U.S. Navy’s latest interest

Are you keen on marine engineering by any chance? Submarine drones are the new buzzword when talking about the South China Sea this year. China has been slowly reclaiming islands in the South China Sea, so, to keep an eye and allegedly “retain its edge” the United States is sending submarine drones to patrol the areas around these islands. 

Ashton Carter, the US defense secretary, said that the drones are able to navigate in shallow waters, something that submarines cannot do. He also said: “Countries across the Asia-Pacific are voicing concern with China’s land reclamation, which stands out in size and scope, as well as its militarization in the South China Sea.” 

The U.S. want to, as Carter put it, ensure their navy efforts are the “most lethal and most advanced undersea and anti-submarine force in the world.” 

The Financial Times reported that the U.S. allegedly also want to build a submarine that would have smaller drones within it that could be deployed. 

Then the recent announcement of the automated boat the United States Navy had built was announced. 

Meanwhile, engineering students from all over the world are hard at work every year to try and improve ROV technology and win big at the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) ROV Competition hosted by NASA. Norwegian engineering students took to social platform, Reddit, to show off their latest ROV iteration that navigates in 6 degrees of freedom with an autopilot feature. This sort of fluidity in ROVs could prove helpful to future underwater vehicles that could utilize the technology produced at NASA’s events to work alongside the Navy in future endeavors where marine engineering is required.