Australian-developed naval AUV arrives in US for additional testing

Ghost Shark, Anduril Industries' advanced extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle (XL-AUV), has arrived in the United States for the first time. Anduril said this phase will expand the test envelope for Ghost Shark by enabling concurrent testing in both the US and Australia and be available for collaboration with US government partners.

Designed and built in Australia, the Ghost Shark example arrived in the United States via trans-Pacific flight by a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17A cargo aircraft, thus demonstrating the AUV's rapid and agile expeditionary capabilities. The vehicle was transported to coincide with Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the large series of biennial maritime exercises held near the Hawaiian Islands.

Ghost Shark is designed to support subsea maritime missions globally. The AUV has a modular, multi-purpose capability that can adapt to mission requirements.

Recently, Anduril Australia unveiled the first Ghost Shark prototype. The AUV is the first of three that will be built under an initial AU$140 million (US$89.7 million) co-development contract between the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the US Department of Defense's Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), and Anduril.

The Ghost Shark AUVs will provide the RAN with a stealthy, long-range autonomous undersea warfare capability. Missions will include persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike.