Ghost Shark ‘Has Teeth Now’ as Australia Confirms New Weapons Payloads

By
Steve Schneider
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Source: Andruril

The Royal Australian Navy is expanding the capabilities of its Ghost Shark autonomous underwater drones, developed by Anduril, equipping them with sea mines, logistics caches, and Altius 600 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), communications relay, and strike missions. Also developed by Anduril, the Altius-600, which has a range of about 375 km and supports multiple mission types, while the Altius-600M is its strike variant, designed for one-way attack missions with a range of about 160 km. Ghost Shark can launch the aerial drones for reconnaissance or attack missions. “Ghost Shark has teeth now,” said Pat Conroy, Australia’s Minister for Defense Industry. Anduril Australia says production is underway and payload testing is active.

Australia has committed $1.7 billion to the Ghost Shark program, with dozens of extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles expected to be delivered. The drones can carry up to 12 sea mines and at least 24 Altius 600 aerial drones, which can be configured for reconnaissance or one-way attack missions. Some payloads from Ghost Shark and other Australian unmanned maritime systems will be used during the AUKUS Maritime Big Play Pacific exercise in San Diego.

The program is part of AUKUS Pillar II, a joint U.S., U.K. and Australian initiative to develop advanced defense technologies, including interoperable underwater drone payloads planned for 2027. Australia aims to strengthen maritime surveillance and deterrence across the Indo-Pacific amid growing concern over Chinese naval activity near its waters.

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