Overview on the development and key technologies of water-air UAV

The water-air UAV is a new kind of aircraft which cruises in the air on ordinary occasions. Specially, it can submerge for a short distance underwater and take off again when necessary. It has lots of superior performance and wide application fields for both military and civil users. Over the last decades, several vehicles like it have been developed for special uses. First, the research necessity and development history of water-air UAV and other similar vehicle are reviewed in this paper. Then, the involved key technologies and their application status, such as configuration, power, control and communication are introduced. It is certain that the water-air UAV will play an important role in the world ahead.