The Echo Ranger is a marine remotely operated vehicle (MROV) built by Boeing

Boeing

The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

. Originally built in 2001 to capture high-resolution sonar images of sea beds for the oil and gas industry (companies such as the Exxon Mobil Corporation

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...

), the Echo Ranger has been undergoing testing for possible use by the military. Among its possible uses are to stalk enemy waters, patrol local harbors for national security threats, and scour ocean floors to detect environmental hazards. The submersible weights more than five tons and is 18.5-foot long. It is able to descend to 10,000 feet.

Sources

• http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drone-submarine-20110820,0,6138571.story
• http://auvac.org/platforms/view/127
• http://www.boeing.com/Features/2011/08/bds_echo_ranger_08_17_11.html