»Ghost Shark« by Anduril | Huge autonomous submarine now operates as a weapons platform

The huge unmanned submarine, which was originally intended to be used primarily for reconnaissance, will in future be able to carry sea mines, kamikaze drones and new types of supply containers. Photo: IMAGO/AAP This week, the Australian Ministry of Defense presented new operational options for the "Ghost Shark" underwater vehicle, which operates without human intervention, at the Anduril factory premises in Sydney. The huge submarine, which was originally intended primarily for maritime reconnaissance, will in future be able to carry up to twelve sea mines, deliver equipment for special forces and launch “Altius” kamikaze drones. Australia's military wants to procure several "dozens" of copies.

Anduril showed the use of weapons in a video: A launch container with twelve tubes extends from the hull of the “Ghost Shark” on the surface of the water, and a drone is launched from one of them. The video provides public evidence for the first time that aerial drones can be used from a submerged underwater vehicle. Since this summer, such capabilities have also been known to the Ukrainian military - although the shooting there was carried out by surface drones.

With a length of around ten meters and a diameter of around two meters, the “Ghost Shark” is the size of a small manned submarine. This makes it significantly larger than normal autonomous underwater vehicles, such as those used by the German Navy. They are also more designed for surveying or mine detection. The “Ghost Shark”, on the other hand, is so big that it is now supposed to carry weapons.

The twelve Asteria sea mines carried come from the Italian manufacturer RWM Italia, a subsidiary of the Rheinmetall Group. The “Altius” drones for the “Ghost Shark”, however, are manufactured by Anduril. Depending on the variant, the range ranges from around 260 kilometers to over 440 kilometers. The company states that the unarmed versions can be reused for reconnaissance flights.

Anduril was founded in 2017 by Palantir co-founder Palmer Luckey; like Palantir, the name is also borrowed from the fantasy trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”. The company has its headquarters in Costa Mesa in the US state of California, other locations are in Australia and Great Britain, where the “Ghost Shark” is also manufactured. The operating software Lattice OS, which controls the navigation, sensors and mission execution of the underwater giant, is also from Anduril.

According to US tech journalist Shanley Kane, Anduril has so far raised around $11.4 billion in capital, including from controversial investor Peter Thiel's venture capital fund Founders Fund. With over 7,000 employees, the company is said to be the largest and most important venture capital-backed weapons startup in the world. Anduril wants to compete with traditional US defense giants such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon and revolutionize modern warfare with autonomous air, sea and underwater systems, AI-supported battlefield reconnaissance and mass-producible guided missiles.

According to information from 2025, the cost of procuring Australia's new "Ghost Shark" fleet will be the equivalent of around one billion euros. In total, the government has earmarked up to A$5.8 billion over ten years for autonomous underwater systems. What is also new is supply containers as a possible payload. They are placed on the seabed for salvage by special forces to avoid ships having to be positioned above them. Technical details about these underwater depots have not been released.

The “Ghost Sharks” are part of the AUKUS security partnership between Australia, Great Britain and the United States. This is increasingly about the joint development of autonomous systems. They were scheduled to be tested this week as part of the Maritime Big Play Pacific exercise in San Diego.

The USA is also investing more in the development of autonomous maritime vehicles. A new agreement in principle with Ukraine will enable the US military, among other things, to test Ukrainian maritime drones - although these are not submersible systems. The US Navy wants to procure hundreds to thousands of them.

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