ADVANCED UNDERWATER POWER-SYSTEMS

The defence, commercial and scientific communities are all aware of th e strategic importance that the oceans hold. Future underwater operati ons are under evaluation using autonomous ocean-ranging submersibles o f the unmanned variety. Such vessels are commonly termed autonomous un derwater vehicles (AUVs), and the search for suitable power systems th at are able to provide high reliability coupled with long underwater d urations has intensified over the last decade. This paper presents a r eview of those power systems that are under consideration, design and development, mainly for the A U V application. No attempt is made by t he authors to directly compare individual systems, as this can only be effectively undertaken once a well-defined vehicle and associated mis sion profile has been defined.