Anduril opens Ghost Shark drone factory for rapid undersea mass for Australian Navy.

Anduril has opened a 7,400 square meter facility in Sydney to build Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles for the Royal Australian Navy, rolling out the first unit ahead of plan and moving straight to in-water acceptance for delivery in January 2026. The A$1.7 billion, five-year program shifts Ghost Shark from sprint development to fleet acquisition, adding sovereign undersea mass while Australia waits for nuclear submarines.

Anduril Industries said it opened a dedicated Ghost Shark production site in Sydney on October 31 and completed the first XL-AUV ahead of schedule, with officials from Defence and the Navy marking the start of a rapid production ramp. The company and Australian authorities described a low-rate initial production line that will grow to full rate in 2026, supported by more than 40 local suppliers and roughly 150 skilled jobs, with exports to allies possible, subject to approval. The first vehicle goes straight into sea acceptance, targeting Royal Australian Navy handover in January 2026, a pace that reflects September’s A$1.7 billion Program of Record decision.
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With long-range endurance and a modular bay, Ghost Shark fills gaps crewed subs cannot sustain, enabling clandestine chokepoint ISR, seabed surveillance, mine warfare, and covert comms relay to the RMP/COP. (Picture source: Anduril)

The factory follows a 1.7 billion Australian dollar Program of Record that turns Ghost Shark from a co-development sprint into a five-year fleet acquisition. Defence presents the capability as an Australian-designed and built XL-AUV intended for persistent ISR and strike effects while improving the Navy’s ability to operate with partners. The timeline remains compressed for the undersea domain: prototypes delivered early, the production site operational within weeks of award, and the first production vehicle entering acceptance this quarter. This pace aims to field useful undersea mass well before nuclear-powered boats arrive.

Ghost Shark sits in the XL-AUV category and uses a modular architecture related to the commercial Dive-XL baseline. That baseline is described as capable of carrying either three distinct payloads or a single large-volume payload, enabling roles from strike to communications or ISR, with endurance measured in weeks without intervention. The workflow built around a test tank adjacent to the lines points to an integrated test regime in which buoyancy adjustments, electrical checks, and safety gates occur meters from the line, shortening the loop from issue to fix. Navigation and sensing follow the same logic: an inertial core supported by terrain-aided navigation, multi-sensor ISR suites including side-scan and interferometric sonars for the seabed, and low-probability-of-intercept data links designed to maintain EMCON while feeding the RMP/COP.

Anduril and Defence are clear on the industrial path: initial units come off the line at a low rate, the ramp to full rate starts in 2026, and deliveries extend over five years. This tempo drives training, pier-side infrastructure, and the spares chain, all of which must mature in parallel to move from trials to routine missions under EMCON. A network of local suppliers feeds the line and spreads risk. If maintained, Australia receives repeatable hardware tranches while software, mission modules, and tactics evolve in spiral increments. For protection and safe operation, the vehicle prioritizes reduced acoustic and electromagnetic signatures, energy redundancies, and anti-tamper measures that support mission resilience and secure recovery.

Ghost Shark addresses coverage gaps that crewed submarines struggle to sustain continuously. Its long-range profile and modular bay support clandestine ISR at chokepoints, seabed surveillance and protection, mine warfare, and communications relay that returns maritime data to the RMP/COP without breaking cover. Deployed from shore or a quay compatible with a container footprint, the vehicle can stage quietly and hold for tasking, using low-probability-of-intercept links to remain on mission and under EMCON. For strike or denial roles, the approach remains payload-agnostic: discreet minelaying, ASW decoys capable of saturating the adversary’s picture, large-volume delayed-action charges, or dedicated effect kits depending on ROE and need. Detailed armament is not public, but the XL size and modularity leave room for dense payloads while preserving sensor-only options. The concept delivers endurance that can be considered expendable in some cases, complicating targeting and extending reach while reserving SSNs for missions that require crews, speed, and organic weapons.

The program is co-developed by DSTG, the RAN, and Anduril through ASCA, and the company is already engaging the US Navy on Ghost Shark. This creates pathways for shared mission libraries, common payload interfaces, and joint trials. If the 2026 window holds, early increments could be exercised with US and UK forces during major drills, building TTPs around undersea pickets, deception plans, and cross-domain handoffs between MALE ISR and subsurface sensors. This is how concepts move from renderings to operational value.

Canberra is buying time and options within AUKUS by adding an autonomous undersea layer that can be produced quickly, refreshed at pace, and exported to close partners. Public messaging highlights jobs and the defense industrial base, but the strategic signal is broader: distributed undersea mass complicates planning for any navy operating near Australia’s approaches and offers a lower-cost route to presence while the SSN enterprise comes online. In a theater where seabed infrastructure, chokepoints, and long supply lines shape risk, Ghost Shark production in Sydney is not only an industrial development. It represents a wager that autonomy at scale shifts the undersea deterrence balance sooner than a traditional schedule would allow.