The Australian Navy will soon add locally-made autonomous ships to its fleet.
Leidos Australia Chief Executive Paul Chase said the company had commenced production of the Sea Archer, a next-generation small uncrewed surface vessel (USV).
“This marks a major step forward in bringing Leidos’ proven autonomous technology and maritime systems portfolio to the Indo-Pacific region while supporting AUKUS objectives and the Australian Defence Force’s mission needs,” Mr Chase said.
He said the move into local manufacturing of autonomous vessels fast-tracked proven U.S. capability to Australia, harnessing Leidos’ 50-year heritage with the U.S. Navy.
“At the heart of Sea Archer is Leidos’ advanced autonomy platform, LAVA, which enables high-speed, long-range, and smart mission execution across diverse maritime environments.”
Mr Chase said the Sea Archer was built for speed, endurance and multi-mission payloads.
“Sea Archer can reach sprint speeds up to 40 knots and has a range of 1500 nautical miles.
“With a flexible payload bay capacity of more than 900kg, Sea Archer can support a wide range of mission options, including strike, logistics resupply, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and electromagnetic deception operations.”
He said the Australian production of Sea Archer would use local capability across the supply chain, from build to payload integration, autonomy software design and ship maintenance, supporting a robust sovereign ecosystem, rapid production and sustainment.
“NSW Central Coast-based Oceans Rivers Lakes has been appointed to build the first aluminium vessel and construction is already underway.”
Mr Chase said Leidos Australia’s technical team would lead the integration of its autonomy software platform, which had already been successfully deployed across 12 different USV platforms.
“Given Australia’s vast northern approaches, platforms with coverage, endurance and agility are critical.
“The capability to monitor large areas, detect security threats, navigate hazardous environments and provide continuous uncrewed support enhances our nation’s security posture, especially in today’s geostrategic environment.”
He said Sea Archer was currently undergoing sea trials in the U.S. and was expected to be mission-ready by 2026.
