Anduril Australia will deliver a prototype of the Ghost Shark underwater drone to the Royal Australian Navy.
Alongside industry partners, Anduril is building the first of three unmanned undersea vehicles co-developed by the Australian Department of Defence under an $89.7 million contract.
Shane Arnott, engineering senior vice president at Anduril Industries, noted that up to 42 local companies are working on the Australian-designed, engineered and manufactured UUV.
“Moving at the speed of relevance is Anduril’s signature. For Ghost Shark, we have assembled a unique high-powered engineering team of 121 people from the best of Australia, across tech, resources and defense, to fuel this progress,” he said in a statement.
“Using novel scaled agile development techniques, we are combining both tech and defense sector development practices, and it’s paying big dividends. Ghost Shark is a program that we as Australians can be very proud of.”
Ghost Shark can autonomously conduct long-range intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike for up to 10 days. The extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle can reach depths of up to 19,000 feet.
Unlike traditional submarines, the undersea drone can continue operation even when flooded because its critical systems and sensors are protected in pressured chambers. The vehicle is also designed with a modular build to ensure it can be adapted to serve various functions.
Ghost Shark is part of the Albanese government’s $4.6 billion investment to build Australia’s subsea warfare capabilities in response to increased Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
The drone will become Mission Zero of Australia’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, which speeds up the transition of innovation from concept to capability for the Australian Defence Force.
According to Arnott, the UUV will be manufactured at scale for the RAN and later for export to allies and partners worldwide.
