Anduril Sets Sights On New XLAUV Milestone

Anduril Industries is seeking to push the performance boundaries of Dive-XL, its commercial Extra-Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (XLAUV).

As per a recent company press statement, the firm is planning to carry out a 1,000-nautical-mile, fully submerged mission with Dive-XL “in the first half of 2025.”

The planned mission is part of a wider development plan that the firm claims will eventually see Dive-XL boasting a multi-thousand-mile range. The Royal Australian Navy has already adopted Dive-XL as its platform of choice for its Ghost Shark programme.

Under this initiative Anduril has teamed up with the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) and Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) to provide the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) with three XLAUVs.

Back in April 2024 when the first of the prototype vessels, Alpha, was unveiled, Executive Chairman and CEO of Anduril Australia David Goodrich commented: “The timeline we set to design and produce three Ghost Sharks in three years in Australia, by Australians for the ADF, was extremely ambitious.

“I am excited to report that we are ahead of schedule and, importantly for a Defence program, we are on budget. We're moving incredibly quickly on this program in lockstep with our ASCA, DSTG and the RAN partners.”

Although the full intended capabilities of the Ghost Shark programme have not been made public, it’s thought the XLAUV will be used for both persistent Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions and strike missions.

• You can read more about Dive-XL on the Anduril website