In a move that will change the game in Pacific naval defenses, Australia and the US have pulled the covers off state-of-the-art uncrewed underwater vehicles called Ghost Shark and Manta Ray. This comes with these sophisticated drones that are meant to up drum up undersea fighting capacities while reducing the human perils of the manned craft.
Australia’s very own Ghost Shark and, from the United States, the Manta Ray reflect a sea change in military technology. To experts, these submersibles deployed for persistent ISR and strike can therefore be the future of undersea warfare.
The United States has extensively used aerial drones in conflicts from Iraq and Afghanistan to the ongoing war in Ukraine. While underwater communication presents many unique challenges, like signal degradation due to water temperature, salinity, and depth, the Australian Defense Ministry took this further and claimed Ghost Shark to be “the most advanced undersea autonomous vehicle in the world.”
“Ghost Shark will provide Navy with a stealthy, long-range autonomous undersea warfare capability,” the Australian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The first production models are expected by the end of next year. In just two years, Ghost Shark has gone from concept to prototype testing, setting a new standard for military innovation. “Delivering the first Ghost Shark prototype ahead of schedule sets a new standard for capability development at the speed of need,” said Australia’s chief defense scientist, Tanya Monro.
And farther east, the US Navy is out with the Boeing-designed Orca UUV: an autonomous, unmanned diesel-electric submarine with modular capabilities. Much like the Manta Ray, the Orca weapon is, by its design, flexible, with payloads that can be reconfigured depending on the assigned mission. The Pentagon plans to acquire more units down the road but has not provided a specific timeline.
Northrop Grumman’s Manta Ray has seen trials off the coast of Southern California and given demonstrations of its modularity and ease of deployment. DARPA has made a key point of how the Manta Ray is modular; it can break down into five standard shipping containers for in-field reassembly. “The combination of cross-country modular transportation, in-field assembly, and subsequent deployment demonstrates a first-of-kind capability for an extra-large UUV,” said Kyle Woerner, head of the Manta Ray program at DARPA.
China is also pushing forward with its UUV technologies if the US military report is to be believed since the US military considers it a “pacing threat” in the Pacific. Emma Salisbury, who is a fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, a prominent British think tank, wrote that her colleagues had long awaited firm evidence to suggest that China has been exploring the same technologies for at least 15 years and could very likely achieve a similar operational capability to the Orca.
Other countries developing UUV are Canada, France, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The development of UUV would represent a global arms race, each vying to surpass the other in the field of advanced and sophisticated underwater drones.
As the US, followed by Australia, continues to forge ahead with undersea warfare technology, Ghost Sharks and Manta Rays are the next step in naval defenses. These next-gen UUVs are all set to boost the power projection capabilities while reducing the risks tied to manned missions.