Research Overview

The purpose of this study is to highlight the most important applications in the unmanned maritime systems (UMS) market on a global scale and discuss how international developments are shaping it. For practical purposes, UMS are divided into 2 segments: unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and underwater unmanned vehicles (UUVs). Due to their history of proven commercial success in the oil and gas industry, UUVs hold the majority of market share. The current market size for commercial UMS is roughly $698.9 million, with a yearly growth rate of 5.3%. Frost & Sullivan expects the market to be worth more than $906.0 million by 2026. The vast majority of this demand comes from the oil and gas industry.

Geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe are causing significant alterations in the global oil and gas industry: petrol prices are rising rapidly and several countries are looking for new sources to reduce dependence on Russian oil. As a result, oil production is bound to increase around the world in the next 3 years, and many UMS (particularly underwater systems) will play a key role in this development, allowing oil production to scale in regions where oil extraction is performed off-shore. Furthermore, demand for this type of unmanned system will increase as oil and gas companies try to lower costs to keep petrol prices competitive. However, the biggest factors driving market growth are the environmental benefits of using these systems. UMS, especially those that rely on alternative energy sources for propulsion, have a much lower carbon footprint than manned vessels, helping companies cut down their carbon emissions significantly.

While UMS can be used simultaneously with other unmanned platforms, particularly aerial, there are few partnerships in place that enable unmanned-unmanned teaming applications. Furthermore, while several governments have increased spending on UMS technology to improve their military capabilities, commercial end users may not benefit from doing so because the improvements prioritized by the military do not always align with what businesses need for their applications. Another restraint to growth comes from the price points of maritime systems, which are the highest among all types of unmanned vehicles.