Australia arms Ghost Shark submarine drones to launch kamikaze drones and lay sea mines.

Australian Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy announced at Anduril Australia's Sydney facility that the Royal Australian Navy's Ghost Shark Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (XL-AUVs) will be equipped with naval mines, swarming aerial drones, and special forces resupply payloads. The integration expands the autonomous submarine's operational scope from intelligence gathering to multi-domain strike, offensive mine warfare, and covert logistics. This milestone forms part of Canberra's A$5.8 billion ten-year strategy to field low-cost, scalable undersea autonomous warfare capabilities alongside crewed naval assets.

Australia's Ghost Shark underwater drones could now lay mines to block enemy ships, launch kamikaze drones to target their sensors and communications, and resupply special forces near hostile coastlines. (Picture source: Australian MoD)

On October 19, 2026, Australia revealed that its Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles (XL-AUVs) will be equipped to carry up to 12 naval mines, launch swarms of Altius kamikaze drones carrying up to 4 kg of explosive, and deposit underwater supply caches for special forces operating near hostile coastlines. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy announced the three missions at Anduril Australia's Sydney factory, confirming that the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) intends to employ Ghost Sharks for mine warfare, reconnaissance, precision strikes and covert logistics. Dozens of XL-AUVs are being acquired under a five-year A$1.7 billion contract signed on September 10, 2025, with the first production unmanned submarine delivered in January 2026.

The announcement also coincides with Maritime Big Play Pacific, an AUKUS exercise involving Australia, the U.S. and the UK from October 5 to 25, and forms part of Canberra's A$5.8 billion investment in autonomous underwater warfare over the decade. The Ghost Shark can now undertake missions traditionally assigned to crewed submarines, minelayers and special operations support vessels, while introducing the possibility of attacking surface targets from an underwater carrier. The Ghost Shark originated from a 2022 A$140 million development program involving Anduril Australia, the Royal Australian Navy and the Defence Science and Technology Group to manufacture three prototypes within three years. The first was unveiled at Garden Island, Sydney, on April 18, 2024, one year ahead of schedule, and all three were completed by mid-2025. An additional Anduril-funded Ghost Shark was transported aboard a Royal Australian Air Force C-17A to Hawaii in August 2024, permitting simultaneous testing on both sides of the Pacific.

Related topic: Australian Navy to receive its first Anduril Ghost Shark XL underwater drone in January 2026

Canberra and Anduril also invested A$20.1 million each in manufacturing preparations before a September 2025 contract established funding for deliveries, maintenance and development through 2030. The undisclosed fleet size also prevents a reliable unit-price calculation: dividing A$1.7 billion by hypothetical fleets of 24 or 36 vehicles produces A$70.8 million or A$47.2 million per submarine, respectively, but these are contractual ratios rather than unit prices because sustainment and development are included. The Ghost Shark XL-AUV uses electric propulsion, a propeller-driven arrangement, and a largely free-flooding hull with individual sealed compartments for electronics, propulsion, and payload equipment. Its design evolved from Anduril's Dive-LD, which measures 5.8 m, weighs 2.72 tonnes, has a ten-day endurance, a 6,000 m diving depth, and a 580 km range, although none of these figures can be transferred to the Ghost Shark, whose actual dimensions, displacement, speed, battery capacity, endurance, and maximum operating depth remain classified.

Anduril has developed a different energy architecture for the Ghost Shark to support longer missions, while its Lattice software supports autonomous navigation and mission execution, particularly important because seawater prevents conventional radio communications over substantial distances and acoustic links have limited bandwidth. Interchangeable payload sections permit different mission configurations, while deployment from wharves, compatible vessels, container-based handling, and C-17A strategic transport reduce dependence on dedicated submarine facilities. The Ghost Shark's mine warfare includes 12 sea mines carried simultaneously, giving ten submarines a theoretical single-load capacity of 120 mines, compared with 288 for 24 units and 432 for 36. However, actual minefield effectiveness depends on water depth, currents, seabed conditions, traffic density, mine spacing, and whether the weapons use magnetic, acoustic, pressure, or combined influence sensors to detect targets.

The Ghost Shark's aerial configuration focuses on the Altius drone, which can conduct reconnaissance or deliver 4 kg explosive payloads against exposed shipboard sensors, antennas, communications equipment and smaller vessels at ranges from 160 km to more than 440 km, depending on the model selected. The third payload category consists of underwater supply caches for later recovery by special forces, potentially carrying mission equipment or consumable supplies, avoiding the need for a crewed resupply vessel to remain near the recovery location. Anduril is separately pursuing the integration of lightweight and heavyweight torpedoes, but no model, ammunition capacity, or operational introduction date has been confirmed. The Ghost Shark's production is concentrated at Anduril Australia's 7,400 m² Sydney factory, which opened on October 31, 2025, seven weeks after the A$1.7 billion acquisition agreement.

This facility combines robotic manufacturing, automated logistics, engineering laboratories and an in-water tank for checking buoyancy and electrical systems before sea trials. Production began at a low rate in 2025, with a transition toward full-scale manufacturing during 2026, and deliveries will continue through 2030. More than 40 Australian companies supply components, subassemblies, and materials, while the program supports 120 existing Anduril positions, more than 150 additional skilled jobs, and potentially 600 jobs across the domestic supply chain. The facility can also manufacture Dive-XL and Dive-LD underwater vehicles, with provision for future Copperhead AUVs, but its annual Ghost Shark output remains undisclosed. Delivering hypothetical fleets of 24, 36 or 48 XL-AUVs over five years would require average annual rates of 4.8, 7.2 or 9.6 submarines, respectively. Actual deployable fleet will also depend on maintenance, battery charging, payload installation and repair turnaround, particularly when multiple XL-AUVs must be prepared for simultaneous missions.

The Royal Australian Navy's Maritime Autonomous Systems Unit, established on April 14, 2026, integrates the Ghost Shark with C2 Robotics' Speartooth underwater vehicle and Ocius' Bluebottle surface vessel. Its Uncrewed Systems Control Centre and Deployable Vehicle Team are intended to support deployment and control from wharf facilities, allowing the RAN to operate autonomous vehicles without assigning each system to a permanent submarine base. The Speartooth occupies a smaller category, as it measures 8 to 12 m, weighs 2,000 kg dry excluding payloads, and has a stated 2,000 km range and 2,000 m depth rating, with lithium-ion propulsion and two modular payload bays. The U.S. Navy also ordered three Speartooths in 2025, receiving the first Australian-built example on May 1, 2026. The Bluebottle instead operates on the surface using solar, wind and wave energy for months-long endurance, operating at 5 knots with a 300 kg payload capacity and 100 to 120 W of average payload power.

Australia's March 2026 A$176 million order for 40 additional vessels raises its planned Bluebottle fleet to 55, while the integration of thin-line towed-array sonar provides submarine-detection capability. The three autonomous vehicles therefore could complement the six Collins-class crewed submarines differently: the Bluebottle maintains persistent surface and acoustic surveillance, the Speartooth conducts modular underwater missions, and the Ghost Shark transports larger offensive payloads over extended distances. The Ghost Shark's new payloads also give Australia new underwater payloads to offer to the American and British underwater vehicles through AUKUS Pillar II. For instance, Maritime Big Play Pacific, running from October 5 to 25 off Southern California, involves more than 40 technologies and tests coordinated strikes, contested resupply, underwater warfare and secure communications between crewed and uncrewed systems.

In May 2026, AUKUS defense ministers selected common underwater payloads, sensors and enabling equipment as their first Pillar II Signature Project, prioritizing interchangeable mission equipment rather than identical submarine designs. Earlier Ghost Shark cooperation also included the August 2024 transfer of a prototype to Hawaii and testing during Autonomous Warrior 2024 at Jervis Bay. Australia is also pursuing complete-vehicle exports, but neither the U.S. Navy nor the Royal Navy has committed to purchasing Ghost Shark, making common payload development a more immediate area of trilateral cooperation than fleet acquisition. Currently, the Ghost Shark's closest American counterpart is Boeing's Orca XLUUV, with an advertised maximum range of 12,038 km, a 10.4 m modular payload section and an 8-tonne dry payload capacity, although an armed aerial drone integration has not been established for the Orca.

The British 12 m, 19-tonne XV Excalibur demonstrated another approach on September 13, 2026, launching a Mk 48 Mod 4 heavyweight torpedo with a 295 kg warhead during trials at the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre in Scotland. AeroVironment's Blackwing previously established the use of underwater-launched aerial reconnaissance drones, while Raytheon's 10.36 m HADALUS has demonstrated submerged launch capabilities in August 2026 and Northrop Grumman's Manta Ray focuses on extended underwater endurance. China's HSU-001 has undisclosed weapons capabilities, whereas Russia's nuclear-powered Poseidon is intended for strategic nuclear attack rather than reusable modular missions.

The Ghost Shark's operational significance subsequently lies in combining two different methods of maritime attack within a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles: mine emplacement to restrict opposing ship movements and aerial drone launches to threaten targets above the surface. This combination could increase the adversarial surveillance, mine-countermeasure, and defensive resources needed to secure contested waterways, as the XL-AUV's effect would increase where naval traffic is concentrated through restricted waterways or where exposed shipboard equipment can be disabled without needing to sink the vessel itself.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.