The British Navy validates the launch of effectors from an autonomous submarine, the Americans have already done the same and will be done by the Australians. And artificial intelligence will decide objectives and strategy.
Submarine warfare has now entered a new era. The Royal Navy has announced that it has successfully launched a heavy Mk 48 torpedo from one of its Excalibur unmanned submarines (UUVs), marking a significant step towards the use of such solutions by NATO forces. The event, which occurred on 13 September at the British Underwater Test & Evaluation Center located in Scotland, represents an important operational milestone for the “Pillar 2” of the agreement on the Aukus program, i.e. the multilateral agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia aimed at developing payload systems for unmanned underwater vehicles compatible with the armable and underwater drones of those nations.
While this was still a proof of concept, according to the press release issued by King Charles’ Navy, it “validated the mechanical, electrical and software integration of a US torpedo onto an Allied autonomous vehicle, demonstrating that Allied forces can rapidly achieve armament interchangeability.”
Admiral Daryl Caudle, head of naval operations, said: Allied cooperation and testing marks a historic first for Allied submarine warfare; demonstrating that we can safely launch a heavy US torpedo from a Royal Navy autonomous underwater vehicle confirms our shared vision of true interchangeability. By integrating weapons, payloads and mission architectures across allied platforms, we increase the flexibility, reach and combat power of our joint forces, ensuring they are ready to meet the strategic challenges of the future.”
The Mk 48 torpedo and the characteristics of the Excalibur submarine
The latest version of the Mk 48, the “Mod 7” is the result of a joint development program with the Australian Navy and is optimized both for traditional missions, hitting submerged or floating targets, and for emerging threats such as stray mines (explosive drones that move in the water) and fast small tonnage boats.
The Excalibur, presented in May 2025, is the first unmanned submarine of the English Navy: approximately 12 meters long, it carries the 6 meter long torpedo hooked under the hull thanks to a skid that facilitates launch operations. The Excalibur does not have torpedo tubes, but rather a large central cargo compartment equipped with hatches in both the upper and lower parts, but the Mk 48 is too large to be accommodated inside, a solution that would favor the navigation performance of the unmanned submarine.
It is a 19 ton submarine designed and built by the MSubs company based in Plymouth (UK), which uses Marine-AI products for the electronics and navigation control software.
The future of submarine warfare and the challenges of artificial intelligence
What emerges, therefore, is that the USA, Australia and the United Kingdom will be able to use the same effectors on all units, being fully compatible with each other. Now the US Navy and the Royal Navy will continue the experiments following the “Project Cutlass” which involves the use of the Anduril “Dive-XL” platform addressing operational aspects such as the integration of other advanced payloads, command and control architectures and tactical deployment scenarios, in order to further mature unmanned submarine capabilities.
Among the technological challenges still to be resolved are protected communications between the command and control station and the underwater drone, which can be thousands of kilometers away, the self-decision-making capacity of on-board computers, based on artificial intelligence algorithms: in the silence and darkness of the abyss, UUV vehicles must be able to “learn” on their own what can be a target and what is not; knowing how to protect oneself from enemy countermeasures, perform obstacle avoidance maneuvers to complete long-endurance missions and also, within certain limits, self-repair.
