Shares in Aquabotix bubbled upwards after the underwater drone maker announced a deal with the US Navy.

The shares (ASX:UUV) surged more than 12 per cent at one stage. A short time ago, they were up 6 per cent to 8.4c.

The company says it has executed a special purpose Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the United States Naval Undersea Warfare Center, a Federal laboratory.

Under the deal, Aquabotix will gain access to the Narragansett Bay Test Facility to test and demonstrate Aquabotix’s SwarmDiver and other relevant technologies.

“We are honoured to be co-operating with the United States Navy and believe that SwarmDiver can be a game changer for the US and allied naval operations,” says Whitney Million, Aquabotix’s CEO.

SwarmDiver is a smart, small and easily deployable robot which can work alongside dozens of its colleagues, creating a mechanical swarm.

Each SwarmDiver, weighing just 1.7kg and 75cm long, can dive to 50m. They have a battery life of up to 2.5 hours and a range of 7km.

The robots are designed for military purposes – UUV Aquabotix doesn’t say whether they can be deployed as mini-torpedoes – but can also be used in oceanography, aquaculture, research and hydrographic survey work.

This article first appeared on Business Insider Australia, Australia’s most popular business news website. Follow Business Insider on Facebook or Twitter.