The navy and other Department of Defense organizations are increasingly interested in the use of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) for a variety of missions and applications. The term USV refers to any vehicle that operates on the surface of the water without a crew. USVs have the potential, and in some cases the demonstrated ability, to reduce risk to manned forces, provide the necessary force multiplication to accomplish military missions, perform tasks which manned vehicles cannot, and do so in a way that is affordable for the navy. A survey of USV activities worldwide as well as the general technical challenges of USVs was presented below. A general description of USVs was provided along with their typical applications. The technical challenges of developing a USV include its intelligence level, control, high stability, and developmental cost reduction. Through the joint efforts of researchers around the world, it is believed that the development of USVs will enter a new phase in the near future, as USVs could soon be applied widely both in military and civilian service.