According to information published by the Australian DoD on December 14, 2022, an autonomous robotic undersea warfare vehicle is being designed and manufactured in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy.
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Extra Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Ghost Shark. (Picture source: Australian Navy)
Its name - Ghost Shark - was revealed on December 12 at Anduril Australia, which is collaborating with Navy and Defence Science and Technology Group on the project. The collaboration was made possible by the Next Generation Technologies Fund.
Defence scientists, Navy personnel and Anduril robotics specialists will work together under a co-funded arrangement to produce three prototypes of the extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles.
The ceremony in Sydney featured a US-made ‘Dive-LD’ autonomous submarine, which will be the testbed vehicle for the development of the vessels.
Head of Navy Capability Rear Admiral Peter Quinn said the stealthy, multi-role vessels, typically between 10 and 30 metres long, represented a new undersea warfare capability for Navy.
Joining other autonomous systems, as Navy invested in smart AI-enabled technologies, he said Ghost Shark would be a game-changer.
Anduril will complete its testing on the submarines over the coming three years in Sydney with continued support from Defence.
About the Dive-LD
The Dive-LD is tailor made for littoral and deep-water survey, inspection & ISR. It allows for rapid configurations to meet mission-specific needs, applicable to a wide range of defense and commercial mission sets.
The Dive-LD has a flexible & unique architecture capable of rapid integration of complex payloads or multi-sensor suites. It is ideal for a variety of missions such as undersea battlespace intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine counter-warfare, anti-submarine warfare, seafloor mapping and more.
Prioritizing payload flexibility, low-logistics, pier launched capability, and long endurance the Dive-LD is tailor made for littoral and deep-water survey and inspections.
