Australia will spend $ 1.1 billion to build dozens of locally developed underwater attack drones, Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday.
The first of the stealthy and long -range “ghost sharks” will be delivered to the Australian navy in January of next year as part of a five -year contract with Andundil Australia based in Sydney, said Marles.
“Australia leads the world in terms of autonomous and submarine military capacities,” Marles told journalists in Sydney.
Large autonomous submarine vehicles would considerably increase the underwater war capacities of Australia, supplementing a fleet of submarines Propelled with American nuclear technologySaid Marles.
The first of these submarines provided under the Aukus partnership The United States and Great Britain will not be delivered in Australia until 2032.
Mick Tsaras / AP
Marles would not say precisely how many ghost sharks would be built. But he said that the Australian Navy would receive “dozens” over the next five years.
Nor would he comment on the range of Ghost Sharks other than describing it as a “very long range”.
As an island continent and the commercial nation, Australia considers the possibility that its marine roads are blocked by an enemy as a major strategic threat.
A fleet of the Chinese navy carried out a shooting exercise living in the sea between Australia and New Zealand in February in what was widely considered as a demonstration of the growing military scope of China.
The flotilla almost completely went around Australia. The Chinese navy has rarely moved to the south.
Andundil Industries, based in California, was contracted in 2022 to produce three prototypes of ghost sharks for the Australian navy.
The ghost shark is designed to play roles of intelligence, surveillance and recognition as well as strike operations, according to a government statement.
The chief of the Vice-Admiral Mark Hammond said that drones could be launched from the shore and from surface ships.
Hammond said he expected “the underwater battle space” becoming more and more congested and disputed.
“I believe that our allies and our partners will continue to benefit from an advantage of capacities in this space provided that we invest in capacities like Ghost Shark and others as well as in our crew systems for the coming years,” said Hammond.
Last year, the partnership announced that Japan would work with Aukus On maritime autonomy and, according to the manager, there are also conversations with Canada, South Korea and New Zealand on potential projects on emerging capacities.
Last month, Australia said that it would also improve its navy with 11 Mogami class frigates built by Mitsubishi Heavy Japanese industries, for the first time in the service by 2030.
Presented as one of the largest defense export agreements in Japan since the Second World War, Australia has agreed to pay $ 6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of furtive frigates.
Mogami class warships – advanced furtive frigates equipped with a powerful range of weapons – must replace the Australian Australian fleet of Anzac class ships.
China has accused aukus of provoking A nuclear arms race and disturbing peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Agency France-Press contributed to this report.
