In the current era of major maritime strategies, the development of grand ocean science programs is becoming an important pathway for the advancement of ocean science. The international community has accumulated considerable experience in implementing such programs, but they face challenges such as insufficient support from high-tech equipment, inadequate research funding, and slow progress in international cooperation. Supported by policies for building a strong maritime country and advancing deep-sea science and technology, China has made certain progress in ocean science research. However, in the future, it will face challenges arising from extreme environments, integrated long-term three-dimensional scientific expeditions, and system integration. Therefore, it is essential to focus on the "four poles" of scientific research—extreme macroscopic, extreme microscopic, extreme environments, and extreme interdisciplinary integration—develop novel ocean technologies and domains, strengthen independent innovation and high-level international cooperation, and use high-tech research equipment as a driver to support future large-scale science programs in key areas.

Communication, positioning and navigation (CPN, referred to as “communication and navigation” in Chinese, where “positioning” is integrated into “navigation”) are crucial for all marine vehicles, and it is more essential for under-ice vehicles operating in polar regions. As human beings step into the polar regions with higher latitude and larger depth, underwater vehicles are more active in under-ice scientific surveys. However, compared to open-water environments at lower latitude regions, the under-ice CPN in polar regions is very special and the relevant CPN technologies also face unique challenges. Hence, the development of under-ice CPN technologies in polar regions also differs from that in other regions. This study reviews the current status and challenges of under-ice CPN technologies in polar regions and provides a prospect for their future developments.

As polar scientific exploration requires broader range, deeper space, and more data collection, unmanned equipment emerges frequently in the polar research expeditions from various countries, helping researchers to have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the polar environment. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have gradually become indispensable equipment for the polar underwater scientific research in the new century due to their advantages of autonomy and versatility. Therefore, it is essential to review the application of scientific research AUVs in polar regions and anticipate their future development. This article begins with a basic introduction to AUVs, followed by analysis of the main purposes and advantages of the AUVs in polar regions based on the summarization of the thirty polar AUV operations in the world. The challenges encountered by the AUVs applied in polar regions are discussed to present the development of the AUVs suitable for the polar scientific research. Additionally, thoughts are also proposed for the design of a new generation of polar research vessels equipped with unmanned equipment such as AUVs.