Anduril has announced the launch of Copperhead, a new family of high-speed, software-defined autonomous underwater vehicles designed for integration with autonomous maritime platforms. The system is intended to support both defense and commercial applications, with variants offering reconnaissance and munition capabilities.
The Copperhead range includes two models – Copperhead-100 and Copperhead-500 – tailored for different payload and range requirements. Both can be deployed from Anduril’s existing Dive-LD and Dive-XL autonomous platforms, and can carry sensors including sonar, magnetometers and chemical detection tools for missions such as search and rescue, infrastructure inspection and environmental monitoring.
A key feature of the product line is the Copperhead-M, a munition variant that provides torpedo-like strike capability for autonomous systems. According to Anduril, the system is designed to fill a perceived gap in rapidly deployable, mass-producible undersea munitions, contrasting current torpedo technologies that remain costly, limited in number and reliant on legacy launch platforms such as submarines.
The company says its approach offers a lower-cost alternative to traditional systems and is aimed at enabling autonomous vehicles to engage maritime threats with greater flexibility, particularly in high-risk environments. Anduril notes that a single Dive-XL platform can carry multiple Copperhead-Ms, enabling the distribution of underwater firepower without placing manned assets at risk.
The launch of Copperhead expands Anduril’s broader efforts to deliver integrated autonomous capabilities across subsea, surface and air domains. The system is part of the company’s ongoing push to provide scalable options for militaries seeking to modernize maritime operations and adapt to evolving undersea threats.
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