Submarins are ready for battle. Australian Ghost Shark begins the revolution in the underwater war

Unmanned technologies have already reached the underwater fleet. David ex in the column for The Telegraph tells how the Australians have ahead of the world in the creation of robot submarines-and that it is able to try hard to build and maintain existing man-made submarines, the US Navy is in a hurry to create many unmanageable submarines. But the Australian fleet can get the first - with its own robotic submarine.

The Australian Ghost Shark Australian Submarine is also a temporary solution that will allow you to take time for the royal naval fleet of Australia to purchase larger piloted submarines under the auspices of Australia, UK and USA, or Aukus. The main problem of the Australians is that their Ghost Shark is larger than the city bus, but small for the submarine.

Underwater, the size provides endurance and fire strength - two things lacking Ghost Shark compared to a larger robotic submarine developed in the United States. Currently, the US Navy has only large piloted nuclear submarines that can overcome thousands of miles through the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and stay in conflict areas for months. But atomic submarines are complex, expensive and time -consuming.

So, although the US Navy requires 66 atomic shock submarines, they currently have only 50 or so - and their number will be reduced, since shipyards are fighting a sharp shortage of labor that delays the construction of new vessels. Virginia's 377-foot shot shock is worth $ 2 billion, and under the best conditions for its construction will take 18 months. Recently, shipbuilders needed three years or more to finish Virginia. Robotic submarines can help reduce this gap.

Boeing develops ORCA, an 85-foot non-atom submarine that can move up to 6500 miles autonomously. Equipped with sensors and weapons, orCA can lay mines, look for mines and hunt for enemy submarines and surface ships - cheap and without risk to crew. The cost of orca is about $ 100 million. But ORCA is a new opportunity for the US navy, and it will not appear very quickly. The first five prototypes finally began to come in December, three years later.

The US Navy wants to have 50 or more such boats, but they can take decades. Therefore, for some American observers, it may have been a shock when the Australian Ministry of Defense has announced this month of supplying the first Ghost Shark BPa for the Australian Royal Navy-two years after the Ministry has signed a prototype of the ship. This prototype cost $ 30 million; Serial versions should be even cheaper. Ghost Shark can do many of the same tasks as Orca.

Moreover, the prototype arrived a few months earlier, and the Ministry of Defense expects that the manufacturer anduril Australia will establish a serial version of the robotic submarine by the end of next year. "Ghost Shark is an example of how the Ministry of Defense and the Australian Industry can move quickly," said the Minister of Defense Industry Pet Conroy. But don't wait too much from Ghost Shark. Although any BPa is better than its absence, Ghost Shark can be a mediocre potential.

Photos published by the Ministry of Defense of Australia and Anduril Australia show that the prototype length is only 36 feet - less than half of the Orca length. The British Project Cetus prototype will be the same size. The shorter body means smaller volume, so it is less important: submarine batteries, passive and active navigation sensors and detection of targets, onboard artificial intelligence computers, weapons for the defeat of other submarines and ships in the surface position.

It is unclear which weapons Australia's royal fleet plans to add to Ghost Shark, but they will almost probably not include a standard torpedo, American Mark 48. Mark 48 length is 19 feet-too large for 36-meter robmarins. There are also smaller torpedoes, including a new seven -futom model that Northrop Grumman develops for the US Navy. But if the Australians plan to buy and integrate a new minor the new robotic minisund, no one has officially published it.