Ghost Shark sub maker Anduril warns Australia needs to bolster homegrown defence

Anduril draws attention with its agile maneuvers in the famous waters of Australia. slow defense procurement sectorA wave of innovation is taking over the global defense industry. The shift is seen in the areas of drones and counter-drones triggered by conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

A 2023 defense review finds the Australian military’s 20 biggest acquisitions are in progress average 25 months behind schedule.

Anduril is taking a “Silicon Valley” approach to its extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle, Ghost Shark, which can perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and attack operations at depths of up to 6,000 meters on missions of up to 10 days.

Because Ghost Shark is smaller and quieter than conventional submarines, it can monitor subsea cables in the deep sea that could be targets for sabotage. It can also carry out mine laying and strike operations. More importantly, it can take over.”boring, dirty and dangerous “Missions from crewed submarines allow them to do more complex missions,” Arnott said.

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Arnott used Boeing Australia before joining Anduril in 2021 MQ-28 Ghost Bat loyalist wingman Drone project, an autonomous vehicle designed to fly alongside manned jets. After attending the University of Melbourne, Arnott, a Wangaratta native, joined a CSIRO subsidiary that was later acquired by Boeing. There he became one of the youngest technicians in the company.

The Ghost Shark can operate in “more and riskier locations – especially since the high danger of destruction of an uncrewed ship may be acceptable.” wrote Sam Goldsmith of Red Team Research.

“Naval chokepoints such as straits are likely locations, but it is conceivable that a line of Ghost Sharks could assemble off the northwestern coast of Australia, for example, and listen for enemy submarines in the open ocean.”

Unlike traditional defense contractors, Anduril aims to develop its products much more quickly, including testing them in the field and then making changes as necessary.

Josh Copland, Innovation Norway’s Australian defense program leader, said he was a bit wary of Arnott’s views but said the “gist is spot on” as it was a “fundamental problem with the defense procurement process”.

Copland is watching Anduril closely because it “challenges” the supply status quo. Copland said Australia could not go through a four-to-five-year period before trialling talent.

“We need to be faster than that, and you only have to look at Ukraine and the innovation cycle they went through and the huge volumes of war stocks they went through so quickly to understand that this is the new reality of conflict that we will face,” Copland said.

limited success

Australia’s Director of Strategic Analysis, Michael Shoebridge, said that although Anduril had “limited success” with the Ghost Shark, the problem of an overly slow defense procurement process (dating back to the Cold War) remained.

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“The Cold War approach to procurement has been overtaken by the faster-paced digital approach, and so Anduril bringing this faster-paced digital approach from the world of technology is a disruptive asset in defense procurement.

“Right now Anduril’s Ghost Shark is the exception that proves the rule.”

But Shoebridge said the rule was a “grandiose, requirements-heavy, very slow procurement approach” to Australia’s defence.

Shoebridge agrees with Arnott’s assessment of the challenges facing Australia, but “it doesn’t matter what companies can do until the processes change and the mindset of senior officials changes”.

Given the destabilizing security situation in the Indo-Pacific, Chinese ships are circling Australia and conducting live fire exercisesThe use case for the uncrewed stealth submarine looks good.

A US-based defense engineer familiar with Anduril’s products said the company’s “strength is getting to the minimum viable product quickly and then marketing it like hell.”

One-third of AUKUS’ estimated $386 billion cost is to account for the risk of cost blowouts. accordingly Guard.

Chris Zappone went to Anduril as a guest of the company.