As anyone who has been online in recent years will tell you, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has developed into a very different war with drones forming a huge part of the Ukrainian arsenal. The types they use range from something like your average commercial hobbyist drone that you can buy in almost any toyshop to something approaching a converted light aircraft1.
The toyshop drones were initially fitted out to drop grenades or mortar rounds on individual Russian dugouts or even individual Russian soldiers. There are also what are called kamikaze drones, some of which are quite small and are designed to plough into a dugout, a truck, armoured personnel carrier, a tank, or even a single soldier before exploding. Some of the larger kamikaze drones have a range of hundreds of kilometres and it is these which have been used to attack Russian oil refineries and other oil infrastructure as a way of crippling Putin’s income stream for his war2.
These attacks are also causing shortages of petrol in Russia such that rationing has been implemented in some parts of the country, with some petrol stations being forced to close down, and long queues of cars reported at others3. However, I digress.
In recent weeks I have also seen reference to small unmanned ground vehicles. They were first used in December, 2024 and have proliferated ever since. Some of these look like model tanks or quadricycles and are used to evacuate casualties, deliver ammunition or other supplies, or even provide fire support. There is even a report of Ukrainian forces capturing Russian troops without the use of infantry, relying solely on aerial drones and some of these ground-based robotic systems. This could allow Ukraine to operate while needing fewer troops on the frontline4.
Yesterday morning, I was reading an article about Sweden’s Saab Corporation signing an agreement to develop a Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (LUUV) which is expected to undergo sea trials in the middle of 20265,6.
In the article I read, it mentioned that it was like Australia’s ‘Ghost Shark’, which was something I had not heard of before. It turns out that Australia is spending $1.7 billion to acquire a fleet of Australian-designed, Australian-built Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles (XL-AUV), with the first production variant of to be in service with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in January, 2026.
Ghost Shark will be capable of engaging in intelligence-gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance and will have a strike capability, and it is suspected that dozens of them will be built for the RAN7.
Three prototypes of Ghost Shark have already been built, the first being delivered for trials in April, 2024. They are said to be capable of operating autonomously at extremely long range, for up to 10 days at a time. They are also reputed to be able to dive as deep as 6,000 metres and can be launched from shore or from a ship8.
I suspect that with such rapid development of autonomous submarines, in time, the Morrison AUKUS future nuclear-powered submarine comedy will be seen for the white elephant it is.
Sources
- http://www.hisutton.com/Ukraine-OWA-UAVs.html
- https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/9/18/ukraine-strikes-choke-off-russian-oil-exports-and-fuel-supplies
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-27/russians-complain-about-fuel-shortages-as-kyiv-strikes-bite/105696808
- https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-approves-new-ground-robots-to-relieve-infantry-strained-by-mobilization-crisis/
- https://www.naval-technology.com/news/saab-sweden-fmv-uncrewed-vehicle/?cf-view
- https://dailymare.com/news/a-new-era-of-underwater-warfare-saabs-autonomous-ocean-drone,1774
- https://www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/australia-commits-to-ghost-shark
- https://www.bairdmaritime.com/security/naval/unmanned-naval-systems/vessel-review-ghost-shark-royal-australian-navys-newest-multi-mission-autonomous-vehicle
