In a warehouse south of Perth, rows of sleek yellow gliders are being built for a purpose that seems deceptively simple: monitoring whales. But they may soon have a second life in defending the nation. The acoustic sensors fitted inside these autonomous vehicles can detect the vocalisations of migrating humpback pods.

Offshore gas operators, under pressure from those critical of the oil and gas industry to limit noise during critical migration periods, rely on this data to stop drilling when whales pass nearby.

A yellow underwater glider undergoes buoyancy testing. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

“These unmanned underwater vehicles can stay at sea for three to four months on a single battery charge,” Mike Deeks, a former Australian Navy submarine commander who now heads the company making the drones, Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems, says. “They don’t have propellers. They move by changing their buoyancy, which means they require very little power.”Initially used to measure water salinity and temperature for Defence, the new generation of “locus gliders” can operate in swarms of hundreds, even thousands, by communicating with one another, and even land on the seabed to covertly monitor activity. “We can go to places where other naval or air force assets can’t,” Deeks said.

“And very quietly, gather intelligence.”

AUKUS and the ‘poorer cousin’ of submarines

The emergence of underwater drones coincides with Australia’s most ambitious defence project in decades — the AUKUS security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom.

AUKUS has two pillars: nuclear-powered submarines (Pillar 1) and advanced defence technologies such as artificial intelligence, hypersonics and autonomous systems (Pillar 2).

Deeks believes underwater drones fit squarely into Pillar 2. But he is blunt. “Pillar 2 is in some ways the poorer cousin of Pillar 1,” he said, arguing that funding, support and progress aren’t moving quickly.That critique is echoed by defence analyst Malcolm Davis from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“We are not moving fast enough on either pillar, to be honest,” he said.

A computer simulation released in 2018 shows a Russian nuclear-powered underwater drone being launched from a submarine. Source: Supplied / RU-RTR Russian Television/AP

“There has been a degree of risk aversion and caution that is slowing down the delivery of those technologies into an actual deployed capability.”Davis says armed underwater drones will likely operate alongside submarines within the next decade.

“What the future undersea battlespace looks like for Australia is a mix of nuclear-powered, but not nuclear-armed submarines, together with underwater drone capabilities,” he said.

Lessons from Ukraine

While aerial drones have already reshaped the war in Ukraine, the undersea realm remains an emerging frontier.”One of the most innovative breakthroughs in recent warfare has been what’s known as autonomous systems — or more commonly, drones,” Davis said.

A Ukrainian pilot prepares drones on an attack mission on a frontline near the city of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, in late July. Source: EPA / Sergey Shestak

According to the BBC, Ukraine has also pushed the boundaries at sea. Naval drones such as the Magura V5 — an uncrewed surface vessel capable of carrying 250kg of explosives and travelling at 80km/h — have sunk or damaged several Russian warships in the Black Sea, forcing Moscow to relocate much of its fleet away from Crimea.

But Davis warns the West faces challenges around how the drones are used. “We have to be very focused on rules of engagement and laws about conflict and how we use these autonomous systems to avoid risk to civilians,” he said.

The government’s stance on underwater drones

The federal government says underwater drones are central to its future defence strategy.A defence spokesperson told SBS News the 2024 National Defence Strategy outlines plans for “an integrated, focused force” that will deliver a Navy with enhanced strike capability across the sea, air and land domains through the introduction of uncrewed underwater and surface vehicles.

Planned investments, the spokesperson said, include “large and extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles to undertake stealthy, long-range missions in high-risk environments, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and strike.”

The Magura V5 naval drone operates on the water’s surface. Source: Getty / Global Images Ukraine

The government maintains that both pillars of the AUKUS pact are on track, with Pillar 2 — focused on advanced technologies — already yielding results.

“Pillar 2 is already delivering capability benefits faster than any partner could achieve alone … especially in areas such as autonomous and uncrewed maritime warfare,” the spokesperson said.

That message was reinforced at a defence industry press conference in Perth on Wednesday, where Defence Minister Richard Marles was questioned on the urgency of adopting autonomous systems.”Autonomous warfare drones in every respect, including in the sea, is obviously a focus of our innovation efforts across the Defence Force,” he said.

“We’ve seen the nature of warfare change dramatically in Ukraine and we are very mindful of that. We are learning lessons from that, and it is very much informing the way in which we are thinking about what capabilities we need to apply in this space.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles and Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy at a Perth press conference on Wednesday, announcing support for a local engineering firm while highlighting Australia’s $10 billion investment in drones and autonomous defence systems. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the government was investing heavily in the technology.”We’ve allocated over $10 billion to expenditure on drones, counter-drone technology and autonomous systems,” he said.

“The truth is countries around the world are investing in both crewed and uncrewed systems to work with each other because they do different things and they work best together.”

WA locals protesting nuclear

But while defence leaders in Perth have this week descended for the National Nuclear Submarine Conference, protesters chanting outside warned of another danger — nuclear escalation.

Stop AUKUS WA organiser Leonie Lundy said the deal lacks social licence and said the Australian Submarine Agency has misled people about the exact nature of low-level nuclear waste to be stored in the state as part of the AUKUS deal.

Protesters outside the National Nuclear Submarine Conference in Perth warn against AUKUS, expressing concerns over nuclear escalation and the storage of low-level nuclear waste in Western Australia. Source: Supplied / Stop AUKUS WA

“We were promised a public meeting five months ago, to express our concerns and get answers.”We’re fed up with being strung along and lied to.”Greens WA MLC Sophie McNeil urged Australia to adopt an independent foreign policy and warned against turning Western Australia into a nuclear submarine base.

Others raised broader concerns including the potential of making local communities a nuclear target.

The deepening race beneath the waves

Back at his shed, Deeks insists his company’s technology will never replace nuclear submarines, nor will it be armed. Instead it will complement them — doing the “dull, dirty or dangerous” jobs.But as production scales up from dozens to potentially thousands of underwater drones, Australia is entering uncharted waters — with the recent rise in tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. Whether seen as a breakthrough in maritime surveillance or a step towards an uncertain future, one thing is clear: the battle for the seas may increasingly be fought beneath them — quietly, invisibly, and with machines.

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