Anduril’s Planned Rhode Island Facility to Produce 200 Dive Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Annually

Anduril Industries has announced the opening of a new facility in Rhode Island to increase production to 200 autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) per year.

This announcement follows an $18.6 million contract awarded to the company by the U.S. Navy to cover an initial buy of Dive AUVs through the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (LDUUV) prototyping effort, following a “swim-off” competition late last year. The Dive-LD is made for littoral and deep-water survey, inspection & ISR. It allows for rapid configurations to meet mission-specific needs.

The new manufacturing facility, located at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, will support large-scale production of Anduril’s Dive-LD family of AUVs. AUVs are transforming maritime deterrence by providing an affordable, distributed, and adaptable undersea capability that complements the U.S. and allied submarine fleet. Developing, manufacturing, and fielding these systems at scale on an operationally relevant timeline will be critical. The 100,000-150,000 square foot production facility will enable Anduril to immediately increase production capacity for its Dive-LD family of AUVs to more than 200 hulls per year. Anduril plans to create more than 100 jobs within five years of the facility opening in 2025.

"Our Maritime Division continues to develop advanced undersea capabilities and, with large contract awards both in the United States and Australia, we are committed to the mass manufacturing of those proven capabilities at speed and at scales that matter,” said Shane Arnott, Senior Vice President at Anduril Industries.

The facility is located in close proximity to Anduril’s maritime engineering center in Quincy, Massachusetts, ensuring that products can be rapidly updated based on customer feedback, even in the midst of full-rate production. The production facility will be able to accommodate the complete lifecycle of the hull — from R&D through sustainment — with dedicated onsite testing facilities, service bays, and more.

The Dive family of AUVs can perform a variety of missions, including operational preparation of the environment, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine warfare, subsea and seabed warfare, seafloor mapping, and more.

Earlier this year, Anduril unveiled the first prototype Ghost Shark extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle, developed and delivered ahead of schedule and on budget at its Sydney, Australia location in partnership with the Royal Australian Navy, the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, and the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG).