TLDR: Australia has awarded Anduril Australia a A$1.7 billion (US$1.12 billion) contract to produce a fleet of Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles (XLUUVs). This significant investment aims to bolster the Royal Australian Navy’s intelligence, surveillance, and strike capabilities, with the first units expected to enter service by January. The program highlights a rapid development timeline, moving from prototype to production in under three years through a collaborative industry-government model.
The Royal Australian Navy has awarded Anduril Australia a substantial A$1.7 billion (approximately US$1.12 billion) contract for the production and delivery of a fleet of Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles (XLUUVs). This landmark agreement, announced on September 10, 2025, following its signing on August 26, marks a pivotal moment in Australia’s defense strategy, emphasizing advanced maritime autonomy.
Defence Minister Richard Marles hailed the Ghost Shark program as a ‘profoundly important capability for the Royal Australian Navy,’ underscoring Australia’s global leadership in autonomous underwater military technologies. The investment is set to span the next five years, with the first units anticipated to enter service as early as January.
Remarkably, the Ghost Shark program has transitioned from prototype to full-rate production in less than three years. This accelerated timeline is attributed to a unique collaborative model where the Royal Australian Navy co-developed and co-funded the project with Anduril Australia, embracing shared risk to expedite capability delivery. Anduril stated that this partnership represents ‘significant financial and bureaucratic capital to the success of the program.’
The Ghost Shark XLUUVs are described as autonomous underwater stealth drones capable of performing intelligence gathering, surveillance, and strike missions. Designed to operate far from Australia’s shores, these all-electric submarines can be piloted from both land and sea, providing the Navy with enhanced domain awareness and operational flexibility. Anduril emphasized that Ghost Shark will enhance coastal defense and domain awareness through ‘artificial intelligence at scale.’
Anduril Australia has invested $60 million in a robotic manufacturing facility in Sydney, which will be responsible for building, maintaining, and further developing the Ghost Shark fleet. This initiative is expected to support 120 existing jobs and create an additional 150 positions at the manufacturing site. The company highlighted that this program demonstrates ‘that affordable, high-performance undersea mass is achievable in just a few short years — not decade-long planning and budgetary cycles.’
This strategic move by Australia comes amidst a global expansion in unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), with several countries, including China, significantly investing in similar technologies. The Ghost Shark fleet is expected to complement Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarines, which are being acquired through the trilateral AUKUS security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom. Dr. Ross Babbage, CEO of Strategic Forum, noted that a large fleet of autonomous craft would ‘change the game’ in underwater warfare, emphasizing the speed of their development.
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Anduril’s commitment to rapid innovation was further demonstrated by its acquisition of Dive Technologies, an AUV startup, months before securing formal government engagement. The company views the Ghost Shark program as a model for other nations, including the United States and its allies, to address urgent national security challenges through autonomous seapower.
