Australia and USA have recently presented two prototypes of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV)called Ghost Shark and Manta Rayrespectively, designed for transform the landscape of submarine warfareallowing stealthy and long-range operations without putting human lives at risk.
Experts say submersibles could represent the future of war underwatershowing the ability to exercise power while minimize danger to human life.
The use of drones in air warfare it has become commonplace. USA He used them extensively during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan starting in the 1990s, and newer, cheaper drones have become key pieces of military equipment for both sides in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv has also built naval surface droneswhich have inflicted great losses to ships much larger and more expensive than the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Aerial and surface drones can be controlled using satellites and light and radio waves. But those don’t work the same way in the depths.
A 2023 study published in the Swiss journal Sensors points out that the underwater communications require more energybut there is still a significant loss of data due to variables such as temperature, salinity and water depth.
Manufacturers of the new generation of military UUVs do not say how they would overcome communication problems. But when Australia made it known Ghost Shark Last month, he called the prototypes “the world’s most advanced autonomous underwater vehicles”.
“Ghost Shark will provide the Navy a capacity of Stealth and long-range autonomous submarine warfare that can be carried out intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and persistent attack“said a statement from the Ministry of Defence Australian, adding that it expects the first production models to be delivered late next year.
Australian and manufacturer officials Anduril Australia They said they couldn’t share any of the specifications of Ghost Shark, since they continue to be classified. But they touted the speed with which the submersible has gone from idea to testing, as the program began just two years ago.
“Being ahead of schedule, within budget, is quite unheard of”he told reporters Shane Arnottsenior vice president of engineering Anduril.
“The delivery of the first prototype of Ghost Shark ahead of schedule sets a new standard for developing capabilities at the speed of need,” said the chief defense scientist of Australia, Tanya Monroeit’s a statement.
Emma Salisburymember of the British think tank Council on Geostrategysaid that he Ghost Shark looks a lot like Orca Extra Large UUV that is developing in USA.
“I assume they are all intended for more or less similar mission sets: persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike capabilityparticularly in the anti-submarine domain,” said Salisbury.
The US Navy rated the Orca UUV built by Boeing as a cutting-edge autonomous unmanned diesel-electric submarine with a modular payload section to execute a variety of missions” in a December press release about the delivery of a first test platform Killer whalean early prototype.
Having a modular payload means that the Orca could, in theory, carry different varieties of weapons depending on the task or be equipped with specialized equipment for reconnaissance or possibly intelligence gathering.
The statement said the Pentagon would acquire five more UUVs, without giving a timeline. But the American Orca has been in the works for more than a decade, according to the Navy statement, a stark contrast to the speed with which Australia has developed Ghost Shark.
Chris Brosestrategy director of Andurilsaid the company and Australia They are in the “process of demonstrating” that “these types of capabilities can be built much faster, much cheaper and much smarter.”
Anduril Australia said that he Ghost Sharkdeveloped entirely in-country, will be available for export after it joins the Australian naval fleet.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Peacefulhe Killer whale It’s not the only one UUV that is developing in the USA.
The Defense Advanced Research Products Agency (DARPAfor its acronym in English), the branch of Pentagon in charge of developing new technologies, says that the strength of Manta Ray is in its modularity, the ability to change payloads depending on the mission.
It can be broken down and fit into five standard shipping containers, moved to the location where it is to be deployed, and reassembled in the field, depending on Northrop Grumman. The prototype was built in Maryland and then reassembled on the California coast.
“The combination of cross-country modular transportation, field assembly, and subsequent deployment demonstrates a unique capability for an extra-large UUV.”noted in a press release from the agency Kyle WoernerProgram Director Manta Ray of DARPA.
He also noted that the modular transportation method means that the Stingray can save internal energy for your mission, instead of using it to get to the deployment site.
like the Killer whalethe Stingray It hasn’t come together as quickly as the Ghost Shark. Their program began in 2020 and DARPA did not give a goal for the Stingrayor some variant thereof, would join the US fleet.
“DARPA is committing to US Navy on the next steps for testing and transitioning this technology,” the agency statement said.
Meanwhile, Chinanamed by the US military as its “passing threat” in the Peacefulis also making progress in UUVsaid Salisbury.
“While details are scarce, as with most Chinese capabilities, they have been developing them for at least 15 years and are likely to now have something similar to the Orca (but with torpedoes) in the testing phase,” he said.
Submarine expert HI Sutton says on his Covert Shores website that, based on open source intelligence analysis, Beijing is believed to have at least six extra-large UUVs in development.
In addition to Australia, the United States and China, other countries who work at UUV include Canada, France, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, according to Sutton.
