Europe is expected to account for nearly 25% of the market, indicative of the considerable levels of spending on subsurface capabilities from the continent\u2019s navies.<\/p>\n
While the majority of this spending is being committed by France and the UK on\u00a0strategic nuclear-powered submarine programmes, other European navies have embarked on a number of conventionally powered submarine acquisition efforts.<\/p>\n Platforms like the\u00a0Type 212CD submarines\u00a0are in high demand, with Germany announcing in December 2024 that it would\u00a0order an additional four boats\u00a0on top of two earlier agreed, in a\u00a0joint programme with Norway\u00a0now due to build ten vessels in the coming years.<\/p>\n In addition, other designs such as Sweden\u2019s\u00a0Blekinge<\/em>-class submarines\u00a0are also under construction, which will be ideally suited to intelligence operations and the monitoring of subsurface threats in the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n An earlier 2023 report by GlobalData found that non-nuclear submarine programmes were benefitting from developments such as Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), enabling conventional propulsion to keep the boats submerged for longer than previously possible.<\/p>\n Usually smaller, conventionally powered submarines were typically seen conducting intelligence missions in the littorals waters and supporting special forces operations.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, USVs also look set to play an important role in European maritime security, with the benefits of increased endurance and time on station offering advantages over crewed platforms.<\/p>\n Further GlobalData analysis conducted in mid-2024 forecast the global USV market would more than double to $2.5bn by 2024, although much of the development will be around combat platforms as seen in the Ukraine-Russia war.<\/p>\n In addition, France and T\u00fcrkiye are expected to be major USV players, in addition to the likes of the UK and Sweden. T\u00fcrkiye alone is expected to increase spending on USV from $214.1m in 2024 to $459.9m in 2034.<\/p>\n It is estimated that more than 40 countries around the world will operate USVs by 2034, conducting missions such as subsurface surveillance, mine countermeasures operations, and other intelligence tasks.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naval-technology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/03\/Type-212CD-1024x576.jpg\")
Europe\u2019s USV leaders<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.naval-technology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/03\/USV-chart-1024x549.png\")
<\/figure>\n