Australia develops new weapons for ‘Ghost Shark’ underwater drone

Moscow (ANTARA) – Australia is developing a range of new weapons for the Ghost Shark autonomous underwater vehicle, from sea mines to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The development was announced in a joint statement by Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, published on Monday.

“The modular design of these platforms allows them to operate with different types of payload, depending on the mission. Examples include long-range delivery of supplies, sea mines and unmanned aerial vehicles,” the statement said.

The new weapons systems and technologies are being developed and integrated not only into the Ghost Shark underwater vehicle, but also into the Speartooth and BlueBottle uncrewed surface vessels.

Some of the technologies are intended to expand the Australian Navy’s ability to conduct underwater combat operations and seabed missions, deny adversaries access to maritime areas, and protect critical subsea infrastructure.

Under Australia’s 2026 Defence Strategy, the government plans to allocate up to A$4 billion over ten years to strengthen autonomous and uncrewed underwater warfare capabilities.

Of that total, around A$1.2 billion is earmarked to procure a fleet of Ghost Shark underwater vehicles.