Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, who is leading the search, said the mini-submarine will scan the sea bed for wreckage from flight MH370 "as soon as possible".
Speaking at a news conference, he said an oil slick has been found within the current search zone of the southern Indian Ocean.
Houston said: "We haven't had a single detection in six days so I guess it's time to go underwater."
He said the crew on board the Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield will launch Bluefin-21, the Artemis autonomous underwater vehicle, which can create a sonar map of the area to chart any debris on the seabed.
The move comes after search teams picked up several underwater "pings", suspected to be from the aircraft's black boxes, over the last two weeks.
Houston explained: "Analysis of the four signals has allowed the provisional definition of a reduced and manageable search area on the ocean floor. The experts have therefore determined that the Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield will cease searching with the towed pinger locator later today, and deploy the autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin 21 as soon as possible."
Yet he warned that use of the mini-sub may not lead to the discovery of the aircraft wreckage and using the submarine is a "slow and painstaking process".
The vehicle is expected to take between six weeks and two months to canvass the current underwater zone, as the signals are coming from 15,000 feet below the surface - which pushes the submarine to the deepest it can dive.
Meanwhile, samples from the oil slick will be collected and brought back to land for testing over the next few days.
No new signals have been heard from the search area since 8 April, amid concerns that the batteries of the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders have expired.
The first two signals were heard on 5 April by Ocean Shield, which was towing the locating equipment. Expert analysis showed the signals were consistent with those emitted from the black boxes.
The discovery of the equipment is essential for investigators to find out what happened to the Boeing 777, which disappeared on 8 March. The plane was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people on board.
By analysing satellite data, officials believe the plane diverted away from its intended flight path and crashed into the southern Indian Ocean. The reason is yet unknown and investigators are researching four possible explanations, including sabotage, hijacking and personal or psychological problems of those on board.
Previous post............................14 April 2014
Missing MH370: Search Heads Into The Deep
Search teams are cautious as a submarine ventures deeper than it has been before in the hunt for wreckage from flight MH370.
This is the most significant development in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in more than a week.
The Bluefin-21, a state-of-the-art unmanned submersible, is now being prepared for a mission to one of the deepest parts of the Indian Ocean.
Its journey will take two hours and send it beyond any depth it has been sent to before - 4.5km down.
When it reaches the silty surface of the ocean floor, it will begin its job of looking for the wreckage.
Sonar sensors will map the undulating surface and send that information back to the monitoring vessel Ocean Shield.
It is a remarkable journey under remarkable circumstances and somewhere down there are the crew and passengers of this ill-fated flight.
Around the world, relatives are hoping something will be found.
Search leader Angus Houston told me the black box battery had likely failed.
"It's time to go underwater," he said.
An oil slick has been spotted more than 5km from the search area and a two-litre sample has been sent to the mainland for tests.
"We don't think it's from the ships," Mr Houston said, hinting it could be engine oil from the 777 jet.
But they know results from the submersible could take a long time to come through.
And there are other pressures too, not least the cost.
This international response is hugely expensive and no one knows how long it can be sustained in its current form.
I asked Mr Houston if he thought this was a "long shot".
"I wouldn't say it was," he replied. "It's a promising lead we need to pursue."
They chose their words very carefully here.
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