Ghost Shark autonomous submarine to be manufactured in Sydney

The federal government has delivered on its promise of more rapid defence decision making, accelerating the manufacture of the Ghost Shark underwater autonomous vehicle for undersea surveillance, reconnaissance and strike at a new factory to be built in Australia.

The government has already spent $90 million along with Anduril Industries developing the very large autonomous submarine and invest another $20.1 million in a $40 million project to build infrastructure to transition the Ghost Shark program from prototype development to production.

Work began on the Ghost Shark only in May 2022, and with the first vessel to be built by 2025 marks an extraordinarily rapid R&D, prototyping, manufacture, purchase and deployment cysle – defence procurement for such complex systems has in the past taken as much as a decade.

Defence and Anduril Australia have entered into a co-funded early works contract for the Ghost Shark programme which will provide Navy with a long-range autonomous vehicle as well as potentially building the vessel for export and in a civilian variant.

The early works contract will also facilitate investment into the Australian industry supply chain which already includes as many as 42 Australian companies.

The Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Pat Conroy said: “The Ghost Shark early works contract provides a clear example of how the Albanese Government is working with Australian industry to accelerate the delivery of cutting-edge sovereign capability.

“Defence is incentivising industry to make substantial capital investments – contracts like this help scale Australian industrial capacity and deliver sophisticated defence capability, while bringing more investment and jobs into the Australian economy.

“The Ghost Shark programme exemplifies how Australia’s defence industry can develop cutting edge technology and deliver at pace.”

The Royal Australian Navy, Defence Science and Technology Group and Anduril Australia co-designed the first three Ghost Shark prototypes, with the support of the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA).

The Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro said: “Ghost Shark has been specifically designed for manufacturability, mass production and flexibility to create supply chain resilience.

“DSTG has contributed project management and trusted autonomy skills to ensure scalable success. This shows what can be achieved by focused collaborative development and co-investment.”

Further reading:
First Ghost Shark unmanned submarine surfaces
Yes we are picking defence industry winners – Pat Conroy
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Picture: Defence/Rodney Braithwaite/Pat Conroy at Garden Island, Sydney