The use of robotic underwater and surface vehicles are rapidly becoming indispensable tools for ocean science and exploration according to Rear Admiral Nancy Hann, who manages a fleet of nine aircraft and sixteen research and survey vessels for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"They have proven to be a force multiplier when it comes to mapping the seafloor, locating and surveying wrecks and other sunken objects, and collecting data in places not easily accessed by ships and other vehicles," Hahn said.
Much of this new technology is being directed at the Vietnam War's undersea crash sites.
As of late July, 1,584 U.S. personnel were still missing from the Vietnam War according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Some 420 of that number were believed to have been lost along the Vietnam coastline or within its territorial waters.
Most of them, however, were in places too deep for recovery operations.
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