Long-range underwater gliders (LRUGs) have emerged as essential platforms for sustained and autonomous observation in deep and remote marine environments. This paper provides a comprehensive review of their developmental status, performance characteristics, and application progress. Emphasis is placed on two critical enabling technologies that fundamentally determine endurance: lightweight, pressure-resistant hull structures and high-efficiency buoyancy-driven propulsion systems. First, the role of carbon fiber composite pressure hulls in enhancing energy capacity and structural integrity is examined, with attention to material selection, fabrication methods, compressibility compatibility, and antifouling resistance. Second, the evolution of buoyancy control systems is analyzed, covering the transition to hybrid active–passive architectures, rapid-response actuators based on smart materials, thermohaline energy harvesting, and energy recovery mechanisms. Based on this analysis, the paper identifies four key technical challenges and proposes strategic research directions, including the development of ultralight, high-strength structural materials; integrated multi-mechanism antifouling technologies; energy-optimized coordinated buoyancy systems; and thermally adaptive glider platforms. Achieving a system architecture with ultra-long endurance, enhanced energy efficiency, and robust environmental adaptability is anticipated to be a foundational enabler for future long-duration missions and globally distributed underwater glider networks.

This study addresses the limitations of buoyancy factor and compensation capacity in pressure hulls for full-ocean-depth underwater gliders operating in extreme deep-sea conditions. A novel lightweight multifunctional composite structure pressure hull (CSPH) is proposed, utilizing a carbon fiber cylindrical shell as the primary load-bearing structure and silicone oil as the buoyancy compensation medium. A mechanical model of the carbon fiber cylindrical shell under hydrostatic pressure was developed based on three-dimensional elastic mechanics theory. Furthermore, a comprehensive performance evaluation model for the CSPH was created, incorporating both the buoyancy factor (B_f) and buoyancy fluctuation coefficient (f_B). The NSGA-II optimization algorithm was employed to simultaneously minimize B_f and f_B by co-optimizing the carbon fiber ply parameters and the silicone oil volume (V_C). This optimization resulted in a Pareto optimal solution balancing buoyancy and compensation performance. The accuracy of the mechanical model and optimization results was validated through finite element analysis and pressure testing. The results show that, compared to traditional metallic pressure hull designs, the CSPH reduces the buoyancy factor by 48% and enhances buoyancy compensation performance by 2.5 times. The developed CSPH has been successfully deployed on the “Sea-Wing 11000” full-ocean-depth underwater glider, significantly improving its endurance and motion stability for long-term deep-sea observation missions.