Anduril to build three unmanned subs for Australia in three years

Anduril Industries will develop three Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (XL-AUVs) for the Royal Australian Navy.

The three-year, 140 million Australian dollars ($100 million) co-funded program will see long-endurance AUVs integrated with multi-mission payloads for military and non-military missions such as “advanced intelligence, infrastructure inspection, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting,” the company stated.

The program’s “ambitious” delivery schedule includes capability assessment and prototyping.

Citing CEO David Goodrich, Australian Defence Business Review reported that the company could commence production in four years, with serial production and induction in five.

The unmanned vessels will be designed, developed, and manufactured in Australia.

“We’re a software-first company,” Goodrich told the outlet. “The XL-AUV will be inexpensive and attritable, and it will be able to be updated on a regular basis to give it more flexibility.”

He added that the vessel cost, depending on configuration, would be a fraction of other competitors and manned submarines.

According to Breaking Defense, the program’s low production cost and short timeline are possible because the vessels will be “partially 3-D printed.”