The Australian Defence Department (which I used to work for) today released a
2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program. The strategy includes significant investment in uncrewed systems ("drones"), including the MQ‑28A Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft (drone fighter), Ghost Shark underwater vehicle (extra large robot submarine), Speartooth (large robot submarine), Bluebottle surface vessel (robot solar sailing boat), and Large Optionally Crewed Surface Vessels (robot missile ships). Apart from the Large Optionally Crewed Surface Vessels, where there are six planned, each with 32 vertical launch cells, the number and armaments of these drones are not given.
While the planned $5B sounds like a lot of money for drones, it is relatively modest compared to investments in crewed platforms. Also what is absent from the plan are the land based equivalents of these robot ships and aircraft. In addition most of the funded drone programs are for imported technology, although some will be manufactured in Australia. I suggest Australia needs to invest in the talent and technology to build its own. Drones are relatively cheap to develop, compared to crewed platforms.
