Robotic submarines fast-tracked for build at site on Sydney harbour to plug capability gap

The Anduril chief executive officer said the first 30 metre-long underwater drone would be ready within a year and would act as a deterrent to Chinese aggression.

The extra large autonomous undersea vehicles (XLAUVs) will be used for intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, and surveillance, and will be capable of carrying payloads including weapons, sensors and scanners, and of diving up to 6,000 metres.

Luckey, a tech entrepreneur, is better known as the creator of Oculus Rift, the virtual reality headset he sold to Facebook in 2014. Now he has moved to defence technology and is in Australia meeting defence officials and recruiting staff for this venture.

Anduril is hoping to increase its current 40-strong workforce to hundreds of staff quickly. The Australian arm of the company has a research and development facility next to Sydney harbour, where it will be able to test the drones in the water.

Crewed submarines would always be needed, he said, to move special forces troops, to carry loads over a certain size, and to make decisions in a military context.

Anduril promises the drones will be stealthy and able to travel long distances without surfacing. They will also be able to be launched from, and return to, vessels and ports.

A spokesperson for Marles said work was under way to deal with the capability gap.