AUKUS heavyweight torpedo test raises questions over future armed UUV requirements

The Royal Navy's XV Excalibur extra-large uncrewed underwater vessel successfully launched and controlled a US Navy Mk 48 Mod 4 heavyweight exercise torpedo during an AUKUS trial off Scotland. The 12-metre MSubs-built platform received a specialist weapon-management system for the three-week experiment at the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre near Kyle of Lochalsh. Project Broadsword/Trial Iron used an inert, recoverable torpedo and demonstrated integration of an existing submarine weapon with an uncrewed platform. Further trials are intended to increase complexity before armed autonomous undersea vessels can enter operational service.