U.S. Navy Selects Anduril Dive-XL Autonomous Submarine for 1,000-Nautical-Mile Undersea Missions
anduril has been selected by the Defense Innovation Unit and the U. S. Navy to demonstrate the Dive-XL extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle under the Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform Project, moving the service toward operationally representative XL-AUV demonstrations.
Anduril Selected for XL-AUV Demonstration
The Defense Innovation Unit and the U. S. Navy chose Anduril through a competitive Commercial Solutions Opening to help close an operational gap beneath the waves. The selection places Dive-XL into the CAMP effort, a U. S. Department of War program created to rapidly prototype and field extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles. Under the award, Anduril will complete a long-duration, operationally representative demonstration of Dive-XL within 4 months of contract award.
The company earned the contract after completing the longest XL-AUV demonstration conducted to date, validating extended-range performance and system endurance in operationally relevant conditions. Anduril currently operates multiple Dive-XL vehicles in the United States, and the CAMP effort is intended to enable experimentation at meaningful scale and create a pathway toward wide-scale adoption and operational deployment of XL-AUVs.
Dive-XL Capabilities and Mission Profile
Dive-XL is described as an extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle built to integrate multiple large payloads for missions requiring extended distances and durations. The DIU requirement set for this class of vehicle specifies the ability to travel beyond 1, 000 nautical miles, operate deeper than 200 meters, navigate in GPS-denied waters, communicate across the air-water boundary, and carry modular payloads ranging up to 21 feet long and 21 inches in diameter.
The platform has already demonstrated endurance: Dive-XL previously completed a 100-hour single voyage as the company pushed toward a fully submerged 1, 000 nautical mile mission. The selection of the XL-AUV itself does not automatically include weapons; Anduril has not publicly said the Navy award includes its Copperhead family. The company has, however, developed a weapons path around Dive-XL, with Copperhead described in available material as coming in 100-pound and 500-pound classes, with munition variants sized broadly along familiar torpedo diameter classes, speeds above 30 knots, and recoverable, reusable design logic intended to reduce cost.
Production, Track Record, and Next Steps
anduril’s ability to deliver Dive-XL is tied to an established production and operational record in both Australia and the United States. The company has accumulated over 42, 355km and 6, 752 hours of mission time across its autonomous undersea vehicles, demonstrating the long-duration capability CAMP requires. Earlier work for an ally included a 2025 program of record awarded for Ghost Shark, which delivered an extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle and a dedicated production facility on timelines faster than traditional programs.
Today, Dive-XLs are produced in Sydney, Australia, and a purpose-built facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, is designed to deliver dozens of Dive-XLs and hundreds of Dive-LDs per year. With the CAMP demonstration scheduled within a defined four-month window after contract award, the next steps focus on completing that long-duration, operationally representative trial and using the results to inform potential broader adoption and operational deployment of extra-large autonomous systems.
The selection advances the Pentagon’s effort to extend undersea reach and operate persistently in contested environments while experimenting with unmanned, long-endurance platforms at scale.
