journal article·2025-11-07Open access

Unmanned Aerial Underwater Vehicles: Research Progress and Prospects

Hangyu Zhou, Weiqiang Hu, Zhaoyu Wei, Yuehui Teng, Liyang Dong

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 22

Abstract

Unmanned aerial underwater vehicles (UAUVs) will play significant roles in several complex application scenarios including observation of mesoscale ocean phenomena, monitoring of offshore platforms, ocean protection, and maritime rescue. These innovative vehicles can be used in the air and underwater and can easily enter and exit water. This review systematically analyzes the research progress, design challenges, and future prospects of UAUVs, emphasizing their potential to revolutionize integrated cross-domain collaboration. We classify UAUVs into five categories—rotary-wing, fixed-wing, folding-wing, hybrid-wing, and flapping-wing—based on propulsion configurations, and critically evaluate their prototypes, highlighting technological milestones and functional limitations. Unlike prior reviews focused solely on technical developments, this study advocates for a paradigm shift from a technology-push to a market-pull and technology-push interactive development model. Combining the design of UAUV with solutions to technical challenges and specific application requirements is crucial for practical deployment. By synthesizing historical context, current advancements, and future developments, this review not only provides possible strategies for design challenges but also lays a roadmap for UAUV commercialization.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms · Underwater Vehicles and Communication Systems · Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

School of Ordnance Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, China

National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Underwater Acoustic Antagonizing, Shanghai 201108, China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China

References (100+)

Show source-provided references
1. TOGA COARE: The coupled ocean–atmosphere response experiment10.1175/1520-0477(1992)073<1377:TCTCOR>2.0.CO;2 ↗
2. Progress on the experiment of a multi-platform collaborative field campaign on offshore typhoon
3. Cooperative use of unmanned sea surface and micro aerial vehicles at Hurricane Wilma10.1002/rob.20235 ↗
4. Design and experiment of a sea-air heterogeneous unmanned collaborative system for rapid inspection tasks at sea10.1016/j.apor.2023.103856 ↗
5. Moltmann, T., Turton, J., Zhang, H.M., Nolan, G., Gouldman, C., Griesbauer, L., Wills, Z., Piniellan, A., Barrell, S., and Zhang, Y. (2019). A global ocean observing system (GOOS), delivered through enhanced collaboration across regions, communities, and new technologies. Front. Mar. Sci., 6.10.3389/fmars.2019.00291 ↗
6. Flying submarine
7. Drews, P.L.J., Neto, A.A., and Campos, M.F.M. (2009, January 11–14). A survey on aerial submersible vehicles. Proceedings of the IEEE/OES Oceans Conference, Bremen, Germany.
8. The flying submarine
9. Donald, V.R. (1963). Flying Submarine. (3092060 A), U.S. Patent.
10. Reid, B.D. (2012). The Flying Submarine: The Story of the Invention of the Reid Flying Submarine, RFS-1, Heritage Books.
11. Development of foreign trans-media aircraft and its enlightenment to China
12. Van Blyenburgh, P. (2008, January 23–25). Unmanned aircraft systems: The current situation. Proceedings of the Autonomous Surface Ships Symposium 2008, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
13. Survey on the novel hybrid aquatic–aerial amphibious aircraft: Aquatic unmanned aerial vehicle (AquaUAV)10.1016/j.paerosci.2014.12.005 ↗
14. Zufferey, R., Siddall, R., Armanini, S.F., and Kovac, M. (2022). Between Sea and Sky: Aerial Aquatic Locomotion in Miniature Robots, Springer.10.1007/978-3-030-89575-4 ↗
15. Review of hybrid aerial underwater vehicle: Cross-domain mobility and transitions control10.1016/j.oceaneng.2022.110840 ↗
16. Review of hybrid aquatic-aerial vehicle (HAAV): Classifications, current status, applications, challenges and technology perspectives10.1016/j.paerosci.2023.100902 ↗
17. Optimisation of fuzzy logic quadrotor attitude controller–particle swarm, cuckoo search and BAT algorithms10.1080/00207721.2021.1978012 ↗
18. Saleem, O., Kazim, M., and Iqbal, J. (2025). Robust Position Control of VTOL UAVs Using a Linear Quadratic Rate-Varying Integral Tracker: Design and Validation. Drones, 9.10.3390/drones9010073 ↗
19. Saleem, O., Tanveer, A., and Iqbal, J. (2025). Adaptive Reconfigurable Learning Algorithm for Robust Optimal Longitudinal Motion Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Algorithms, 18.10.3390/a18040180 ↗
20. Rapid Surveying and Mapping Based on the Digital Aerial Photographic System Mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
21. Selecting patterns and features for between-and within-crop-row weed mapping using UAV-imagery10.1016/j.eswa.2015.10.043 ↗
22. Schneider, W. (2004). Defense Science Board Study on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense.
23. Baba, Y., Takano, H., Miyamoto, S., and Ono, K. (2002, January 20–23). Air combat guidance law for an UCAV. Proceedings of the 1st UAV Conference, Portsmouth, VA, USA.10.2514/6.2002-3427 ↗
24. Ruixuan, W., and Xueren, L. (2009). UAV System and Operational Use, National Defense Industrial Press.
25. UAV deployment exercise for mapping purposes: Evaluation of emergency response applications10.3390/s150715717 ↗
26. Research on Application of UAV RS Techniques in Forest Inventories
27. A Review on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Remote Sensing and Its Application
28. The Application of Remote Sensing System for Micro UAV Based on CMOS Image Sensor
29. Research on key technology of digital photogrammetry based on UAV remote sensing image
30. Application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Inspecting Transmission Lines
31. Ping, J.T.K., Ling, A.E., Quan, T.J., and Dat, C.Y. (2012, January 6–9). Generic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for civilian application—A feasibility assessment and market survey on civilian application for aerial imaging. Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE Conference on Sustainable Utilization and Development in Engineering and Technology (Student), Kuala Lumpur, MY, USA.
32. Chen, Y., Lian, L., Huang, H.C., Yang, W.J., and Song, J.B. (2018). Fundamentals of Marine Technology, China Ocean Press.
33. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (2025, April 14). HOV Deep Sea Challenger. Available online: http://www.whoi.edu/main/deepseachallenger.
34. Zha, J., Thacher, E., Kroeger, J., Taylor, C.N., and Duraisamy, K. (2019, January 11–14). Towards breaching a still water surface with a miniature unmanned aerial underwater vehicle. Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), Atlanta, GA, USA.10.1109/ICUAS.2019.8798350 ↗
35. Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (2025, April 14). New UAV Can Launch from Underwater for Aerial Missions. Available online: https://www.jhuapl.edu/PressRelease/160317#addsearch=cracuns.
36. Attitude control of aerial and underwater vehicles using single-input FUZZY P+ ID controller10.1016/j.apor.2020.102460 ↗
37. Bershadsky, D., Haviland, S., Valdez, P.E., and Saldanha, N. (2016, January 19–23). Design considerations of submersible unmanned flying vehicle for communications and underwater sampling. Proceedings of the OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey, Monterey, CA, USA.10.1109/OCEANS.2016.7761266 ↗
38. Loon copter: Implementation of a hybrid unmanned aquatic–aerial quadcopter with active buoyancy control10.1002/rob.21777 ↗
39. Nezha-F: Design and Analysis of a Foldable and Self-Deployable HAUV10.1109/LRA.2023.3252343 ↗
40. Aerial-aquatic robots capable of crossing the air-water boundary and hitchhiking on surfaces10.1126/scirobotics.abm6695 ↗
41. Horn, A.C., Pinheiro, P.M., Silva, C.B., Souto, H.T., and Santos, R.L. (2019, January 2–6). A study on configuration of propellers for multirotor-like hybrid aerial-aquatic vehicles. Proceedings of the 2019 19th International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.10.1109/ICAR46387.2019.8981667 ↗
42. Aerial-underwater systems, a new paradigm in unmanned vehicles10.1007/s10846-018-0820-x ↗
43. Attitude and altitude control of unmanned aerial-underwater vehicle based on incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3015857 ↗
44. Tan, Y.H., and Chen, B.M. (August, January 31). A morphable aerial-aquatic quadrotor with coupled symmetric thrust vectoring. Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Virtual.10.1109/ICRA40945.2020.9196687 ↗
45. Chen, Y., Liu, Y., Meng, Y., Sun, W., and Liu, Y. (2019). System modeling and simulation of an unmanned aerial underwater vehicle. J. Mar. Sci. Eng., 7.10.3390/jmse7120444 ↗
46. Wang, Y., Li, J., Huo, J., Zhang, Y., and Han, J. (2020, January 6–8). Analysis of the hydrodynamic performance of a water-air amphibious trans-medium hexacopter. Proceedings of the 2020 Chinese Automation Congress (CAC), Shanghai, China.10.1109/CAC51589.2020.9327293 ↗
47. Testing and characterization of a fixed wing cross-domain unmanned vehicle operating in aerial and underwater environments10.1109/JOE.2017.2742798 ↗
48. Design of a passive vertical takeoff and landing aquatic UAV10.1109/LRA.2016.2633623 ↗
49. Moore, J., Fein, A., and Setzler, W. (2018, January 21–25). Design and analysis of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial-aquatic vehicle. Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Brisbane, Australia.10.1109/ICRA.2018.8461240 ↗
50. Consecutive aquatic jump-gliding with water-reactive fuel10.1126/scirobotics.aax7330 ↗
51. Lifting-principle-based design and implementation of fixed-wing unmanned aerial-underwater vehicle10.1002/rob.22071 ↗
52. Gao, A., and Techet, A.H. (2011, January 19–22). Design considerations for a robotic flying fish. Proceedings of the OCEANS’11 MTS/IEEE KONA, Kona, HI, USA.10.23919/OCEANS.2011.6107039 ↗
53. Geder, J.D., Ramamurti, R., Edwards, D., Young, T., and Pruessner, M. (2016, January 19–23). Swimming performance of a hybrid unmanned air-underwater vehicle. Proceedings of the OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey, Monterey, CA, USA.10.1109/OCEANS.2016.7761330 ↗
54. Bao, Y.C. (2019). Combinatorial Biomimetic Design of Fluid Dynamic Shape and Analysis of Aerodynamic Characteristics for Cross-Media UAV. [Ph.D. Thesis, Jilin University].
55. Design and plunge-diving analysis of underwater-aerial transmedia vehicle of bionic kingfisher
56. Liu, W. (2012). The Diving Plane Design and the Aerodynamic Shape Structural Design and Analysis. [Ph.D. Thesis, Nanchang Hangkong University].
57. Yao, G., Liang, J., Wang, T., Yang, X., Liu, M., and Zhang, Y. (2014, January 5–10). Submersible unmanned flying boat: Design and experiment. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO 2014), Bali, Indonesia.10.1109/ROBIO.2014.7090514 ↗
58. Fabian, A., Feng, Y., Swartz, E., Thurmer, D., and Wang, R. (2025, April 14). Hybrid Aerial Underwater Vehicle (MIT Lincoln Lab). Available online: https://phoenixfiles.olin.edu/do/23bf82e5-0d2c-471c-a8d2-62a51d619b16.
59. Yang, X., Wang, T., Liang, J., Yao, G., and Zhao, W. (2013, January 12–14). Submersible unmanned aerial vehicle concept design study. Proceedings of the 2013 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA.10.2514/6.2013-4422 ↗
60. Wind and water tunnel testing of a morphing aquatic micro air vehicle10.1098/rsfs.2016.0085 ↗
61. Fast aquatic escape with a jet thruster10.1109/TMECH.2016.2623278 ↗
62. Rockenbauer, F.M., Jeger, S., Beltran, L., Berger, M., Harms, M., Kaufmann, N., Rauch, M., Reinders, M., Lawrance, N., and Stastny, T. (2021). Dipper: A Dynamically Transitioning Aerial-Aquatic Unmanned Vehicle. Robotics: Science and Systems, RSS Foundation.10.15607/RSS.2021.XVII.048 ↗
63. Research on concept of conformal semi-ring wing configuration for water-air medium voyage
64. Feng, X.S., and Li, S. (2020). Recent Scientific and Technological Progresses in Marine Robotics, Science Press.
65. Toward a gliding hybrid aerial underwater vehicle: Design, fabrication, and experiments10.1002/rob.22063 ↗
66. A biologically inspired, flapping-wing, hybrid aerial-aquatic microrobot10.1126/scirobotics.aao5619 ↗
67. Izraelevitz, J.S., and Triantafyllou, M.S. (2015, January 26–30). A novel degree of freedom in flapping wings shows promise for a dual aerial/aquatic vehicle propulsor. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Seattle, WA, USA.10.1109/ICRA.2015.7140015 ↗
68. Alzu’bi, H., Akinsanya, O., Kaja, N., and Waller, C. (2015, January 8–10). Evaluation of an aerial quadcopter power-plant for underwater operation. Proceedings of the 2015 10th International Symposium on Mechatronics and its Applications (ISMA), Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.10.1109/ISMA.2015.7373488 ↗
69. Lv, X.P. (2023). Overall Design of a Cross Domain Vehicle. (116353265 A), CN Patent.
70. Feng, D. (2024). Trans-Media Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Device and Control Method Thereof. (2024/0017854 A1), US Patent.
71. A biorobotic adhesive disc for underwater hitchhiking inspired by the remora suckerfish10.1126/scirobotics.aan8072 ↗
72. Qi, H., Hu, S., Zhang, J., and Wu, G. (2025). Review of Hybrid Aerial Underwater Vehicle: Potential Applications in the Field of Underwater Marine Optics. Drones, 9.10.3390/drones9100667 ↗
73. Ma, Z., Chen, D., Li, G., Jing, X., and Xiao, S. (2022). Configuration design and trans-media control status of the hybrid aerial underwater vehicles. Appl. Sci., 12.10.3390/app12020765 ↗
74. Drews, P.L.J., Neto, A.A., and Campos, M.F.M. (2014, January 14–18). Hybrid unmanned aerial underwater vehicle: Modeling and simulation. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Chicago, IL, USA.10.1109/IROS.2014.6943220 ↗
75. da Rosa, R.T.S., Evald, P.J.D.O., Drews, P.L.J., de Oliveira, G.H.F., and Rosito, J.W. (2018, January 1–5). A comparative study on sigma-point kalman filters for trajectory estimation of hybrid aerial-aquatic vehicles. Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Madrid, Spain.10.1109/IROS.2018.8593556 ↗
76. Maia, M.M., Mercado, D.A., and Diez, F.J. (2017, January 24–28). Design and implementation of multirotor aerial-underwater vehicles with experimental results. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Vancouver, BC, Canada.10.1109/IROS.2017.8202261 ↗
77. Analysis of key elements to evaluate the performance of a multirotor unmanned aerial-aquatic vehicle10.1016/j.ast.2017.07.046 ↗
78. Ji, D. (2022). Underwater and Aerial Vehicle. (2022/0314218 A1), US Patent.
79. Dynamic modeling of passively draining structures for aerial–aquatic unmanned vehicles
80. Dynamic modeling, analysis, and testing of a variable buoyancy system for unmanned multidomain vehicles10.1109/JOE.2016.2586802 ↗
81. Stewart, W.J. (2018). Passive Floodable Wing Development for Hybrid Aerial-Aquatic Vehicles. [Ph.D. Thesis, North Carolina State University].
82. Stewart, W., Weisler, W., MacLeod, M., and Anderson, M.B. (2018). Design and demonstration of a seabird-inspired fixed-wing hybrid UAV-AUV system. Bioinspir. Biomim., 13.10.1088/1748-3190/aad48b ↗
83. Yahya, H.Z. (2022). Hybrid Aquatic Unmanned Aerial and Submersible Vehicle. (2022/0097812 A1), US Patent.
84. Yang, X., Liang, J., Wang, T., Yao, G., Zhao, W., Zhang, Y., and Han, C. (2013, January 12–14). Computational simulation of a submersible unmanned aerial vehicle impacting with water. Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), Shenzhen, China.10.1109/ROBIO.2013.6739617 ↗
85. Design and experiment of a bionic gannet for plunge-diving10.1016/S1672-6529(13)60224-3 ↗
86. Wing load investigation of the plunge-diving locomotion of a gannet Morus inspired submersible aircraft10.1007/s11431-013-5437-5 ↗
87. Anti-ship weapon with capability of water to air
88. Controlled flight of a biologically inspired, insect-scale robot10.1126/science.1231806 ↗
89. Chen, Y., Helbling, E.F., Gravish, N., Ma, K., and Wood, R.J. (October, January 28). Hybrid aerial and aquatic locomotion in an at-scale robotic insect. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Hamburg, Germany.10.1109/IROS.2015.7353394 ↗
90. Yang, X., Liang, J., Li, Y., Zhang, H., and Xiao, H. (2011, January 16–21). Modeling and analysis of variable buoyancy device imitating waterfowl plumage structure. Proceedings of the International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, Rhodes, Greece.
91. Mechanical properties of corrugated composites for candidate materials of flexible wing structures10.1016/j.compositesa.2005.10.015 ↗
92. Intelligent and flexible morphing wing technology: A review10.3901/JME.2018.14.028 ↗
93. Recent developments of polymer-based skins for morphing wing applications10.1016/j.polymertesting.2024.108463 ↗
94. Bowman, J., Sanders, B., Cannon, B., Kudva, J., Joshi, S., and Weisshaar, T. (2007, January 23–26). Development of next generation morphing aircraft structures. Proceedings of the 48th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Waikiki, HI, USA.10.2514/6.2007-1730 ↗
95. Development and investigation for rigid-flexible coupling dynamic performances of the morphing wing with clearance joints10.1016/j.ymssp.2024.111871 ↗
96. Initial stage of flat plate impact onto liquid free surface10.1063/1.1714667 ↗
97. Numerical simulation of circular disks entering the free surface of a fluid10.1063/1.869787 ↗
98. Unsteady forces on spheres during free-surface water entry10.1017/jfm.2012.232 ↗
99. Influence of atmospheric pressure on the phenomena accompanying the entry of spheres into water10.1063/1.1698377 ↗
100. Effect of surface condition of a sphere on its water-entry cavity10.1063/1.1699831 ↗