Anduril Australia was awarded a A$1.7 billion (US$1.12 billion) Program of Record by The Royal Australian Navy to deliver a fleet of Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous submarines, marking one of the most ambitious leaps into maritime autonomy by any nation. Production is already underway — less than three years after the concept was first introduced.
The extra-large autonomous vessel, or XLAUV, is designed for long-range patrols, coastal defense, and undersea intelligence missions, powered by AI-driven navigation and decision-making systems. Its entry into full-rate production marks what analysts are calling a “new era of seapower.”
“We bet on ourselves,” said Palmer Luckey, Anduril’s founder. “We invested our own capital because we believed autonomy would transform undersea warfare. Two years later, that bet has paid off.”
Luckey said one of the program’s biggest successes has been its collaborative structure. Navy personnel have worked closely with Anduril engineers in joint test and development phases, embedding themselves at naval bases and sharing operational feedback in real-time.
“The future of undersea warfare doesn’t have to be slow, cumbersome, or expensive,” said Luckey. “If we can command the sea, we can command the world.”
