French Firm Seaber Launches 13 kg RAVEN AUV, Promising Mine Hunting at a Third of High-End Prices

French manufacturer Seaber launched RAVEN, a 13-kilogram autonomous underwater vehicle for naval mine countermeasures and seabed inspection that can be deployed and recovered by one operator. The 12-centimetre-diameter platform uses Seaber's LYNX optical inertial navigation and offers either a magnetometer for submerged metallic objects or a high-definition camera with 24,000-lumen lighting. An acoustic modem provides submerged communications over a stated two to three kilometres, supplemented by UHF radio and Iridium connectivity at the surface. Seaber claims roughly one-third the price of high-end AUVs but has not disclosed a unit price, endurance or depth rating.