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American defence innovator Anduril Industries and Japanese shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have announced an agreement to design and produce a new class of dual-use autonomous surface vessels.
It’s understood that the partnership will focus on integrating Hyundai’s shipbuilding capability with Anduril’s autonomy and mission systems in the proposed modular family of surface vessels.
The platforms will reportedly have an open architecture design to support interchangeable payloads, allowing the same vessel to perform intelligence, surveillance, strike, electronic warfare and other missions through rapid reconfiguration.
“The vessel’s distinctive central superstructure provides an unobstructed 360-degree field of view, enabling continuous situational awareness and optimal payload performance,” according to a public statement from Anduril.
“The ship’s autonomy software integrates propulsion, navigation and payload control into a unified networked system, enabling commanders to adapt missions dynamically and operate with greater situational awareness.
“Architected from the start with sustainment in mind, the software-defined integration approach enables interchangeability across hardware and software stacks to avoid supply chain constraints and vendor lock.
“The vessel is built in steel, making it easier to weld, maintain and repair using the existing domestic supply base; an intentional choice for durability in operations and scalability in manufacturing.
“The platform is being developed to demonstrate how an affordable, software-defined surface vessel can extend naval reach and support the Navy’s evolving concepts for distributed maritime operations.”
The surface vessels are expected to be designed for commercial and defence use under the partnership, including a specific variant targeted at US Navy demand for a Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC).
“The Navy needs autonomous, modular vessels that can be produced at speed, deployed in volume and upgraded continuously with iterative engineering, software updates and new mission payloads to augment the manned fleet,” according to a public statement from Anduril.
“The first dual-use ASV prototype is currently being fabricated in Korea, utilising HD Hyundai’s industrial capacity to validate designs, integrate propulsion and power systems, automate ship functions with autonomy, and prepare for US production ahead of its maiden voyage.
“Future vessels, including the MASC variant, will be completely built in the United States. Anduril has invested tens of millions of dollars to revamp a previously retired shipyard in the Pacific Northwest region at the historic former Foss Shipyard in Seattle, Washington. This facility will serve as Anduril’s initial US hub for low-rate vessel assembly, integration and testing of ASVs for the MASC program.
“Autonomous surface vessels are the next step in Anduril Maritime’s evolution, building on the success of Ghost Shark, the extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle that Anduril is developing with the Royal Australian Navy. Ghost Shark proved Anduril’s ability to design build and deliver advanced capability on compressed timelines.”
