Australia Is Buying Dozens of Autonomous Subs. What Will They Be Used For?

Australia is Buying Dozens of Autonomous Subs. What Will They be Used For?

[By Sam Goldsmith] Autonomous submarines that Australia has launched into production are likely to relieve operational pressure on the country’s crewed submarines, undertake the most dangerous undersea missions, and present an enemy with greater risk of detection and attack. While the government and builder Anduril are saying little about specific technology built into the submarines, called Ghost Sharks, some features are clearly probable or ev…

Anduril Aust signs up to build $1.7 bn fleet of robot subs

US defence firm Anduril is to help Australia build a $1.7 billion fleet of robot submarines for the Navy. The deal was signed amid continuing doubt over US President Donald Trump’s commitment to the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal with the US reviewing the deal (see below). The Defence Department says it signed a five-year contract with Anduril Australia to build, maintain and upgrade the fleet of Ghost Shark robot subs. The company says that produ…