AUV62-MR

AUV62-MR is the mine-reconnaissance configuration of Saab Kockums’ modular AUV62 family of unmanned underwater vehicles, built in Sweden and fielded by the Swedish Navy. The system entered service around 2010 as part of Sweden’s push to renew its mine countermeasures inventory in the Baltic — a body of water whose shallow, cluttered seabed and legacy of mines from two world wars makes autonomous mine hunting particularly attractive. Saab Kockums , the naval-systems arm of Saab and the company behind the Gotland-class submarines and the A26 programme, packages the platform around a torpedo-diameter hull that fits inside existing naval handling and logistics chains.

The vehicle runs autonomously to a pre-programmed mission plan, descending to survey altitudes and tracking lawnmower-pattern lanes over a designated search box. Its payload is built around side-scan sonar for wide-area seabed imaging, with forward-looking sonar and onboard cameras used to classify contacts at closer range. Detected objects are logged with georeferenced positions and sonar imagery so operators on the mothership can later review, classify, and prioritise targets for neutralisation by remotely operated vehicles or clearance divers. The same AUV62 hull also forms the basis of the AUV62-AT, an anti-submarine warfare training target that mimics submarine acoustic signatures for navy exercises and which has been a more visible export product than the mine-reconnaissance variant.

Sweden remains the primary operator, with the Swedish Navy using the system to map territorial waters and approaches against the persistent threat of historical and modern naval mines. Mine warfare has returned to prominence in the Baltic since 2022, as the Nordic NATO accessions of Finland and Sweden have turned the sea into a contested rear area and as Russian naval activity around undersea cables and pipelines has raised the salience of seabed reconnaissance. The AUV62-MR sits inside that operational picture as a routine survey tool rather than a frontline weapon, contributing to the route-survey work that precedes any naval movement through suspect waters.

Saab Kockums has continued to evolve the platform alongside other unmanned systems in its portfolio, including the Sea Wasp explosive-ordnance disposal vehicle and the Double Eagle remotely operated mine-disposal system. The AUV62-MR competes against mine-reconnaissance AUVs from Kongsberg (Hugin) and Thales (SAMDIS), in a European market where every navy in the North Sea, Baltic, and Mediterranean is shifting from manned mine-hunting vessels towards mixed manned-unmanned approaches.