Autonomous Marine Vehicles Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2032

This report describes and explains the autonomous marine vehicles market and covers 2017-2022, termed the historic period, and 2022-2027 termed the forecast period, along with further forecasts for the period 2027-2032. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global autonomous marine vehicles market reached a value of nearly $2.3 billion in 2022, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5% since 2017. The market is expected to grow from $2.3 billion in 2022 to $4.9 billion in 2027 at a rate of 16.3%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.6% from 2027 and reach $10.6 billion in 2032.

Growth in the historic period resulted from strong economic growth in emerging markets, increase in military expenditure and increase in focus on unmanned platforms. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were political uncertainties and volatile raw material prices.

Going forward, the increasing government support, increasing advancements in technology, rise in oceanographic surveys and increasing defense expenditure will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the autonomous marine vehicles market in the future is stringent regulations.

The autonomous marine vehicles market is segmented by type into surface vehicle and underwater vehicle. The underwater vehicle market was the largest segment of the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by type, accounting for 70.3% of the total in 2022. Going forward, the underwater vehicle segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 17.8% during 2022-2027.

The autonomous marine vehicles market is segmented by technology into imaging, navigation, communication, collision avoidance and propulsion. The collision avoidance market was the largest segment of the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by technology, accounting for 24.1% of the total in 2022. Going forward, the imaging segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by technology, at a CAGR of 16.6% during 2022-2027.

The autonomous marine vehicles market is segmented by application into military and defense, archeological, exploration, oil and gas, environmental protection and monitoring, search and salvage operations, and oceanography. The military and defense market was the largest segment of the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by application, accounting for 32.8% of the total in 2022. Going forward, the oceanography segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 16.55% during 2022-2027.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the autonomous marine vehicles market, accounting for 43.7% of the total in 2022. It was followed by North America, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the autonomous marine vehicles market will be Africa and Middle East where growth will be at CAGRs of 19.9% and 19.3% respectively. These will be followed by Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 17.6% and 16.4% respectively.

The global autonomous marine vehicles market is highly concentrated, with large players operating the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 88.92% of the total market in 2021. L3Harris Technologies, Inc was the largest competitor with 21.0% of the market, followed by BAE Systems with 17.29%, General Dynamics (Bluefin Robotics) with 13.05%, Kongsberg with 7.99%, Saab AB with 7.56%, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. with 7.48%, Textron Inc. with 5.36%, Huntington Ingalls Industries with 4.14%, Teledyne Technologies, Inc with 3.27% and Atlas Elektronik with 1.78%.

The top opportunities in the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by type will arise in the underwater vehicle segment, which will gain $2.0 billion of global annual sales by 2027. The top opportunities in the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by technology will arise in the communication segment, which will gain $623.0 million of global annual sales by 2027. The top opportunities in the autonomous marine vehicles market segmented by application will arise in the military & defense segment, which will gain $869.4 million of global annual sales by 2027. The autonomous marine vehicles market size will gain the most in the China at $780.9 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the autonomous marine vehicles market include focus on artificial intelligence (AI) to improve product offerings, focus on technological advancements to strengthen position, focus on third-generation autonomous driving systems to grow in the market, use of 3D printing in the pre-and post-production manufacturing process of autonomous marine vehicles, focus of oil and gas companies on the use of autonomous marine vehicle fleet, focus on advanced battery driving systems to strengthen position in the market and focus on strategic partnerships and collaborations.

Player-adopted strategies in the autonomous marine vehicles market include focused on strategic investments to expand business operations, focused on expanding business through strategic acquisition of companies with similar businesses, focus on expanding its maritime operations through building new facilities and focus on new product developments for commercial applications.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the recommends the autonomous marine vehicles companies to focus on use of artificial intelligence in autonomous marine vehicles, focus on technology advancements, focus on third-generation autonomous driving systems, use of 3D printing in autonomous marine vehicles, focus on advancements in batteries, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions, focus on fast-growing applications, and target governments.