Australia advances undersea warfare capabilities

Key Points:

• Australia has announced a significant milestone in advanced undersea warfare with the integration of payloads into its Ghost Shark, Speartooth, and BlueBottle uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), showcased during the Maritime Big Play Pacific exercise in San Diego.
• The modular design of these UUVs allows them to carry various payloads such as remote supply delivery, naval mines, and uncrewed aerial vehicles, enhancing capabilities in undersea warfare, seabed operations, sea denial, and protection of critical undersea infrastructure.
• This development builds on prior collaborative testing with AUKUS partners and aligns with the May announcement of the first Pillar II Signature Project focused on advanced payloads for uncrewed undersea vehicles.
• The Australian government is investing up to $5.8 billion over the next decade in autonomous undersea warfare capabilities, including $1.7 billion for a new fleet of domestically designed and built Ghost Shark UUVs for the Royal Australian Navy.
• While specific capabilities remain undisclosed, reports indicate integration of naval mines, supply containers, and UAVs from Anduril’s Altius family, with Ghost Shark expected to undertake intelligence, surveillance, and strike missions, and BlueBottle optimized for deploying compact sensor payloads for anti-submarine and seabed surveillance roles.