October 4, 2006: While most UUV (unmanned Underwater Vehicle) and USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) development is going on in the United States, work on robotic submarine vessels has been popular much longer in Europe. UUVs (also called ROV, or Remotely Operated Vehicles), have been popular as a key component in clearing modern naval mines. This was because bottom mines (which lay on the ocean floor in shallow coastal waters) became better, and more common, after World War II. There was much anxiety in Europe over the possible use of bottom mines by the Soviet Union. Without effective mine clearing systems, most European nations faced disaster if their ports were successfully mined, and shut down. So the remotely controlled mini-sub was developed. This was the ideal system for positively identifying bottom mines, and then assisting in destroying the mines (usually with an explosive charge.)
Decades of work with these UUVs has resulted in a generation of very reliable and capable vehicles. A good example is the Double Eagle Mk III, which is used by Holland , France, Sweden and Belgium. This is a 1,300 pound, ten foot long, box like UUV that can operate at up to a thousand feet down. The Double Eagle's batteries last for ten hours, and the UUV can operate up to four kilometers from the ship where the operator is. The UUV carries color camera and sonar, and can deliver an explosive charge right next to a bottom mine, then back away before the mine is destroyed. The first version of the Double Eagle appeared in the late 1980s, but even with the end of the Cold War, work continued, as did sales. The current version of the UUV (Mk III) can also operate robotically (on its own), and costs about three million dollars each (with control equipment for the ship.)