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The US Navy has selected defence technology company Anduril Industries to help develop and demonstrate a new class of long-range autonomous underwater vehicles, highlighting the growing strategic importance of robotic systems operating beneath the waves.
The contract was awarded through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) as part of the US Navy’s Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform (CAMP) project, an initiative aimed at rapidly prototyping and fielding extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles (XL-AUV) capable of operating for extended periods and carrying significant payloads across vast distances.
Under the program, Anduril will conduct an operational demonstration of its Dive-XL autonomous undersea vehicle within four months of receiving the contract. The demonstration will replicate realistic operational conditions and is intended to prove the system’s ability to conduct long-duration missions across extended ranges without direct human control.
The move reflects increasing concern within the United States Navy about the ability to sustain persistent operations in the undersea domain as maritime competition intensifies.
Large autonomous underwater vehicles are expected to play a growing role in surveillance, strike support, mine warfare and seabed operations. Unlike traditional submarines, they can remain on station for extended periods, operate in higher-risk environments and be deployed in greater numbers.
According to Anduril, its fleet of autonomous undersea vehicles has already accumulated more than 42,000 kilometres of underwater travel and over 6,700 hours of mission time, demonstrating the endurance and reliability required for distributed maritime operations.
The CAMP program is intended to accelerate experimentation with these systems at meaningful scale, providing the US Navy with a pathway to eventual operational deployment.
The American program also builds on technology and industrial capability developed in Australia through the Royal Australian Navy’s pioneering Ghost Shark initiative.
In 2025, Anduril secured a major contract with the Royal Australian Navy to deliver the Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle, a project developed in partnership with Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group.
Ghost Shark is designed to provide Australia with a long-range, stealthy autonomous capability, able to conduct intelligence gathering, surveillance and potentially strike missions far from Australian shores. The system is also intended to complement the country’s future submarine fleet and expand the nation’s presence in the increasingly contested Indo-Pacific undersea environment.
As part of the program, Anduril established a dedicated production facility in Sydney, enabling the rapid manufacture and testing of large autonomous undersea platforms. The facility forms part of a broader industrial network that includes a specialised manufacturing site at Quonset Point in the United States.
Together, the two facilities are designed to produce dozens of Dive-XL systems and hundreds of smaller Dive-LD vehicles each year, signalling a shift towards mass-produced autonomous naval systems.
Strategists increasingly see autonomous undersea platforms as a potential game changer in naval warfare. By combining long endurance, stealth and the ability to operate without onboard crews, these systems could enable navies to project power and maintain persistent surveillance across vast ocean areas.
For the United States and its allies, including Australia, such capabilities could significantly extend operational reach while reducing the risks associated with deploying crewed submarines in highly contested waters.
Defence planners argue that maintaining control of the undersea domain remains fundamental to maritime power. The ability to monitor and, if necessary, deny access to strategic sea lanes and critical seabed infrastructure is widely regarded as a prerequisite for controlling the broader maritime battlespace.
Programs such as CAMP in the United States and Ghost Shark in Australia are therefore seen as early steps in what may become a major transformation in naval warfare, shifting autonomous underwater systems from experimental concepts to operational reality.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
