Anduril Australia receives production contract to build Ghost Shark XLAUVs

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has awarded the Australian arm of US defence technology company Anduril Industries an AUD 1.7 billion (EUR 0.95 billion) production contract to deliver a fleet of Ghost Shark SSK extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles (XLAUVs).

Production under the contract, which Anduril said was awarded on 9 September 2025, is already underway, with Anduril Australia responsible for the delivery, maintenance and continued development of the Ghost Shark platform over the next five years. It has not been divulged exactly how many Ghost Shark XLAUVs are covered by the production contract.

Since entering into a collaborative contract with Anduril in 2022 the Australian government has already invested approximately AUS 140 million into the development of the Ghost Shark platform. According to Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy, that work saw “all three prototypes delivered on budget and ahead of schedule”.

The Ghost Shark XLAUV is designed to conduct intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations stealthily and at long range. It will thus deliver a significant boost to the RAN’s undersea warfare capabilities, complementing its future surface combatant fleet and conventionally armed, nuclear‑powered submarines.

“Delivery of uncrewed undersea and surface vessels will provide Australia’s Defence Force an asymmetric capability advantage – a key priority outlined in the 2024 National Defence Strategy,” an Australian government press release stated on 10 September. “Continued investment in this capability presents a unique opportunity for Australia to design, engineer, and manufacture sovereign uncrewed maritime warfare capabilities, with strong prospects for export opportunities.”

Anduril stated on its website, “The Ghost Shark’s entry into full-rate production marks the start of a new era of seapower through maritime autonomy. For years, Australia has faced the persistent and threatening presence of Chinese naval assets in its home waters. Ghost Shark is the instantiation of a programme of record for AUVs that can directly address this challenge through coastal defence patrols and area-wide domain awareness powered by artificial intelligence at scale. Success in this effort would be a landmark opportunity to demonstrate the potential of autonomous seapower to address clear and urgent national security problems.”

Anduril stated that the success of the Ghost Shark programme thus far has been down to a true collaboration with the RAN, with the two organisations embedding personnel in each others’ operations, plus Anduril’s preparedness to take on a significant degree of risk; in February 2022, before it had secured any formal engagement with the Australian government, Anduril expended its own capital to acquire Boston-based AUV start-up Dive Technologies, thus facilitating the development of the Ghost Shark.

“Now we intend to build,” the company added. “Anduril has invested AUD 60 million in a sophisticated, robotic XL-AUV manufacturing facility in Australia, where employees are at work to produce entirely sovereign autonomous maritime platforms.”