Australian Naval Institute

22 August 2024

Source: https://navalinstitute.com.au/28947-2/

The Australian-made  advanced Extra-Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (XL-AUV), the Ghost Shark, has arrived in the United States for the first time, Naval News reports.

Anduril Industries said that with the first Ghost Shark currently in Australia, this milestone will expand the test envelope for Ghost Shark by enabling concurrent testing on both sides of the Pacific and be available for collaboration with U.S. government partners.

This Ghost Shark arrived in the United States via trans-pacific flight by a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17A, showcasing its rapid and agile expeditionary capabilities. The vehicle was transported to coincide with Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), one of the world’s largest maritime exercises held near the Hawaiian Islands to ensure the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans.

“Ghost Shark is designed to support subsea maritime missions globally. It is a modular, multi-purpose capability that can adapt to mission requirements, serving as an agile force multiplier. In a new era of strategic competition, a credible naval deterrent force is essential. 

Developing and fielding autonomous underwater capabilities at scale is critical to maintaining strategic deterrence, and Ghost Shark delivers that capability.

Recently, Anduril Australia unveiled the first prototype a year ahead of schedule and on budget. Early production and testing have been crucial for rapid learning and iteration, enabling Anduril to deliver an operationally relevant capability at the speed required to defeat and deter the emergent threats. 

Anduril is leveraging technology from its proprietary AUV capability and its Lattice AI-powered software platform to develop Ghost Shark.

In 2022, Anduril signed a co-development contract with the Royal Australian Navy and the Defence Science and Technology Group to design and develop three ‘Ghost Shark’ XL-AUVs in three years. This agreement accelerates production and reduces costs compared to traditional large-scale systems and this investment allows Anduril to meet the urgency of the moment at a fraction of the cost of existing undersea capabilities.

The Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, said, “The first prototype was delivered one year early and on budget, and all three will be delivered by June 2025. So, from conception to full realization, less than three years.”

The National Defence Strategy identified uncrewed undersea warfare capabilities as a critical capability for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The advances in this program help address a capability need as well as potentially providing a fleet of low-cost multi-role autonomous vehicles to complement and enhance the current submarine and surface force. 

This additional Ghost Shark is an example of Anduril investing its own funds in R&D, to cut development timelines and move faster than traditional industry, avoiding the delays and cost overruns typical of cost plus contracts.