New footage shows a drone launch test from Australia's Ghost Shark, an extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle developed with Anduril Industries. The video shows the vehicle operating on the surface and sending an aerial drone into the air from a multi-tube launcher. The Ghost Shark is designed for long-range, stealthy intelligence gathering, strike, and mine-laying missions. On October 19, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy revealed previously secret payloads, including up to 12 sea mines, supply caches for special forces, and swarms of Anduril's Altius aerial drones for reconnaissance and attack.

The vehicles are being built in Sydney under a contract of about A$1.7 billion, a figure some reports put at A$1.8 billion, to field dozens of them by the late 2020s. The program sits within the AUKUS partnership, and officials say the vehicles will work alongside Australia's crewed submarines. Conroy said adversaries now have to consider that any shipping container at an Australian wharf could hold a Ghost Shark, and he said other countries have shown interest in buying it. The footage does not make clear when or where the test took place, or whether it demonstrates the full swarm capability officials described. Those details will decide how much weight this test carries as a deterrent.