Uncrewed underwater vehicles set to challenge ‘status quo’ of naval warfare

Between our Melbourne headquarters and our recently established sister companies, “Eurobotics” based in Germany and “C2R-Defense’ in the US, we are pivoting quickly to provide our market-leading LUUVs and other products to our most trusted allies.

Today, I will be focusing on Speartooth, robotics autonomous systems, and undersea warfare in the AUKUS Pillar 2 context.

I will start off with two provocative statements to hopefully elicit some conversation in the panel:

1. “The slow introduction of autonomous systems across Western governments is like having built a thick-walled castle of ‘status quo’ and laying a moat of bureaucracy and processes around it, to protect it.”
2. “And my second statement is that: AUKUS Pillar 2 will overtake Pillar 1, in capability relevance over the next five years.”

Over the last four years, C2 Robotics’ Speartooth has focused on delivering Intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike roles in high-risk and challenging contexts.

Among the underwater ecosystem, Speartooth is unique across its fellow AUKUS Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 offerings, as it is the only system that can be attritable and designed for delivering mass, from the outset.

As Speartooth takes on more submarine-like roles and expands into more littoral missions, its small size and shallow water navigation accuracy make it incredibly suitable for mine detection and monitoring of critical undersea infrastructure.

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It’s not hard to imagine how UUVs and the underwater battle space will naturally evolve. You only have to observe what has happened in the air over the last four years. The humble yet prolific UAV has changed the battlefield over Ukraine.

No one thought that a small UAV could kill Russian strategic bombers thousands of kilometres from the battlefield, or make attack helicopters largely redundant, or be the cause of 90 per cent of battlefield casualties. And no one thought it conceivable that they would be made in the millions.

It proves that there weren’t any technical or industrial constraints – it was only our imagination and trust that were holding us back. And it is that metaphorical moat of bureaucracy and acquisition processes that’s impeding their wider and faster introduction to service.

Although, to be fair, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t acknowledge the Australian Strategic Capabilities Accelerator “swimming against the tide for this” and how it is supporting Australian SMEs.

Great white sharks and littoral piranha

Nuclear attack submarines or SSNs have been around for 70 years, so I’m assuming, as a comparative reference point for UUVs, this might be a good start – especially as their missions and weapons systems are well known to most.

Although UUVs and submarines both swim underwater, there are more differences than similarities.

Think of nuclear submarines as the great white shark – apex predator of the oceans, while UUVs will become the piranhas of the littorals, shallow water, the coastal areas, the choke points, and straits. Both are terrifying if used well and imaginatively.

Design, development, and build time are dramatically different – one’s measured in days, the other in years. One requires very expensive and highly specialised infrastructure; the other requires a trailer. Three people can deploy and control dozens of Speartooth; the other requires thousands of people to operate and sustain the capability. One is a stealthy platform; the other is invisible. Submarines have two main weapons or payloads; UUVs have dozens, and growing.

Robotics autonomous systems’ incorporation of new mission sets, payloads, and sensors is incredibly fast. Noting that it is the payloads that give value to the UUVs. UUVs are constantly evolving and iterating. April’s model is an improvement on January’s. July’s model – even better.

I think most people would naturally assume that the LUUV’s capability outcome is commensurate with its size and cost?

But I will put this to you, while being very careful with my words:

Over the short to medium term, C2 Robotics’ Speartooth will be able to strike military vessels in any context, via different means.

We will continue our development on submarine detection and prosecution, and expand the number of novel payloads and missions for customers.

We will introduce many new roles and missions, some of which currently don’t exist in any military’s mission sets. The asymmetric advantage is widening. The outcome of these developments is that targets won’t be safe anywhere in or around the water.

Ladies and gentlemen. It’s going to be an uncomfortable transition. It might make people and governments question their investment decisions and their force mix – and that’s a good thing.

No one wants to design their future force around the last war. The “status quo” castle will eventually be brought down by external forces that weren’t conceived when it was built. Just as the canon did for castles in the 15th century, and the aircraft for battleships in WW2.

AUKUS forecast

Importantly, the opportunity we, the AUKUS partners, have is immense. AUKUS Pillar 2 has the potential to create a significant military advantage, leveraging these disruptive technologies. We currently have a global lead in this technology, a lead that can be closed quickly – and we cannot afford to squander it.

There is also a specific opportunity for the UK here, apart from avoiding being left behind. It is the ability to achieve “mass” and “interchangeability” with its key partners – key themes mentioned yesterday by the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, as well as Jeremy Pocklington and other speakers.

We also heard that the First Sea Lord reiterated that the Royal Navy is heading full steam towards its “hybrid Navy”: “uncrewed wherever possible, crewed only where necessary”.

Final thoughts

Robotics autonomous systems in the undersea domain are going to make you change the way you look at the water, in much the same way soldiers on the battlefield now look pensively upwards towards the sky. But the difference is, you’re unlikely to ever see, or know, the UUV is there.

***Troy Duggan is the chief executive officer of Australian uncrewed autonomous systems manufacturer C2 Robotics.***