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Anduril Australia has announced it will build its first Australian manufacturing facility to deliver Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles for the Royal Australian Navy and the commercial Dive-XL variant.
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Anduril’s autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) are designed from the outset to be produced at scale by incorporating a modular design while providing affordable mass through the incorporation of advanced, scalable manufacturing techniques that enable rapid iteration based on specific customer requirements.
To accelerate production readiness of Ghost Shark ahead of a transition to mass production, Defence and Anduril Australia have entered into a co-funded AU$20.1 million (US$13.2 million) early works contract.
David Goodrich OAM, executive chairman and CEO of Anduril Australia, welcomed this milestone announcement, saying, “The $20.1 million early works contract is a strong signal of government support. It has prompted Anduril to make another significant investment, in the creation of a cutting-edge Australian manufacturing facility with state-of-the-art production systems to manufacture Ghost Sharks right here in Australia. This is the first uncrewed submarine manufactured at scale by the Australian maritime defence technology industry.”
The Commonwealth’s investment of AU$20.1 million is set to be significantly exceeded by Anduril Australia as it invests in expanding the local hiring and rapid scaling of the sovereign supply chain and building infrastructure to transition the Ghost Shark program from prototype to production following further government approval, with first production variant available by the end of 2025.
Anduril Australia’s Ghost Shark supply chain involves more than 42 Australian companies and the early works contract will facilitate investment into the Australian industry supply chain so it can grow and scale alongside Anduril Australia.
“We are thrilled to announce Anduril’s first Australian manufacturing facility for Ghost Shark XL-AUVs. We are excited about accelerating the delivery of Ghost Sharks at unprecedented speed in lock-step with our Defence and Australian defence industry supply chain partners,” Goodrich said.
Ghost Shark is a collaboration between the Royal Australian Navy, Defence Science and Technology Group, Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA), and Anduril Australia.
The head of ASCA, Professor Emily Hilder, said, “Ghost Shark is a powerful example of how ASCA can help accelerate capability to our warfighters, bringing together parts of the Defence enterprise as well as Anduril Australia, to help deliver an asymmetric advantage.”
Dr Shane Arnott, senior vice-president engineering, Anduril Industries, added, “Anduril’s maritime division is developing advanced, autonomous undersea capabilities with the best engineering talent in the country. There’s a lot of talk but not enough ‘walk’ in delivering affordable maritime mass. This is Anduril stepping up with another significant investment to show how to get things done.
“Many companies create R&D AUV systems without committing to building the factory in order to scale production, leading to a chicken and egg situation on affordability. We are changing the game by building our first full-rate maritime autonomy factory for Ghost Shark here in Australia,” Dr Arnott said.
This comes following the announcement that the US company had secured US$1.5 billion (AU$2.27 billion) in investor capital to establish “Arsenal-1” to hyperscale defence manufacturing in the United States.
Ghost Shark is an extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle (XL-AUV) that will provide Navy with a cost-effective, stealthy, long-range, trusted undersea capability that can conduct persistent and disruptive intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike.
