Sheathed in a chilling veil of rain, under cover of darkness, a few Navy Seals descend from a ship into a small rubber boat. They motor to a nearby harbor, idle the engine, and gently lower three torpedo-shaped objects into the water. The mission? Locate that persistent nemesis of amphibious operations: undersea mines. But tonight, instead of the specially trained dolphins or human divers who would normally do this work, the Navy is relying on robots. This scene has been enacted many times recently in San Diego, Seattle, Hawaii and the Mediterranean. It's a test scenario, a dress rehearsal for the real thing. Naval experts won't say whether their smart new unmanned subs, known as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), will be sent into hostile harbors anytime soon―that's classified―but they do express deep satisfaction with how the machines are performing.
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