On October 19, 2026, Australia unveiled three previously undisclosed payloads for its Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle: naval mines, subsea logistics caches and aerial drones for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike missions. The vehicle can deploy up to 12 naval mines in a single mission. Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy sets out around A$425 billion in capability investment over the next decade. Undersea warfare, long-range strike, autonomous systems, command and control, munitions and military infrastructure all rank among its priorities. Ghost Shark offers a useful view of the force Canberra is trying to build.
Denial shapes Australia’s force design
A strategy of denial has been at the center of Australian defense planning since 2024. The 2026 strategy goes further, placing greater emphasis on Australia’s ability to generate and sustain credible military power during a crisis, including when support from partners may be constrained.
The spending plan reflects those priorities. Canberra intends to allocate between A$94 billion and A$130 billion to undersea warfare, A$62 billion to A$77 billion to maritime denial and localized sea control, and A$28 billion to A$35 billion to targeting and long-range strike.
No single platform sits at the center of this force design. Australia’s future submarines will remain its high-end undersea capability, but they will increasingly operate alongside larger numbers of autonomous systems. More heavily armed surface combatants and longer-range land- and air-based weapons complete the picture.
Australia is also pushing its weapons much farther. The 2026 investment program aims to extend some maritime strike capabilities from 120 kilometers to 2,500 kilometers, land-based strike from 40 kilometers to 500 kilometers before later reaching 1,000 kilometers, and air-launched strike from 370 kilometers to 1,000 kilometers.
Those weapons will depend on targeting systems, communications, command networks and space-based sensors to deliver their full effect.
Autonomous systems add mass
The Australian government plans to invest between A$12 billion and A$15 billion in autonomous and uncrewed systems over the next decade, between A$2 billion and A$5 billion more than envisaged in 2024. Defence Minister Richard Marles has described a force model shaped by lessons from recent conflicts. The concept pairs a relatively small number of sophisticated crewed platforms with larger numbers of autonomous systems.
Underwater, Ghost Shark fills that role. Its modular design allows the payload to change with the mission: mines for maritime denial, aerial drones for reconnaissance or strike, and subsea caches for logistics. The Royal Australian Navy says these systems are intended to complement crews, ships and submarines, not replace them.
Australia is taking a similar approach in the air. Ghost Bat is designed to operate alongside crewed combat aircraft, with the 2026 investment plan calling for development at greater scale to expand both capability and survivability.
Ghost Shark and Ghost Bat are different programs, but both point to the same trend: autonomy is moving into the core of Australian force design. Australia’s Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy, released in August 2026, specifically identifies both among the platforms supported by its technology priorities.
Sustaining the force becomes the next challenge
More platforms and longer-range weapons matter only if Australia can connect, supply, repair and keep them operating through a prolonged crisis. The 2026 program therefore allocates between A$14 billion and A$19 billion to command of operations, A$14 billion to A$21 billion to logistics and health capabilities, and A$13 billion to A$16 billion to military bases in northern Australia.
Munitions are equally important. Between A$26 billion and A$36 billion is planned for guided weapons and munitions, with the aim of expanding stockpiles while also building the capacity to manufacture, sustain and repair selected weapons in Australia.
One example is a new industrial capability in Queensland to produce 155 mm artillery projectile bodies, which is expected to begin operations by the end of 2028. Canberra plans to invest up to A$5.8 billion over the next decade in autonomous undersea warfare capabilities, including A$1.7 billion to acquire a fleet of Ghost Shark vehicles designed and produced in Australia.
AUKUS also forms part of this wider effort. Payloads for autonomous undersea systems are being tested jointly with the United States and the United Kingdom, while Australia is pursuing its own objectives in denial, industrial resilience and greater strategic autonomy.
Australia’s military transformation will ultimately depend on its ability to make these different elements work together: expensive crewed platforms, a growing number of autonomous systems, longer-range weapons, command networks and the infrastructure needed to sustain them.
Ghost Shark shows that some of those elements are developing quickly. The next test will be their integration.
