The US Navy has contracted Pennsylvania-based defense startup Albacore for the procurement of its Ghostfin long-range unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs).
The drone features a 200-pound (91-kilogram) payload capacity to carry one-way kinetic attack weapons or sensing solutions.
It measures 102 inches (259 centimeters) long, weighs 425 pounds (193 kilograms), and has a diameter of 13 inches (33 centimeters).
Ghostfin is powered by a diesel-electric propulsion system that supports a range of 1,000 nautical miles (1,151 miles/1,852 kilometers) and up to 30 days of operations.
“The technology that we are developing here is basically a scaled-down version of what was used in World War II submarines,” Northeast Times quoted Albacore Co-Founder Dante Vaisbort as saying.
“We have basically the shrunk-down version of what was used in World War II, but in a mass-producible, autonomous form factor.”
Driving ‘Peaceful Deterrence’
John Huddleston, another co-founder of Albacore, highlighted that the company is focused on gaps in autonomous maritime warfare exposed by recent conflicts, particularly in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
“It became so clear to so many people that unmanned systems were the future, and that the United States was really unprepared for that level of warfare,” WHYY quoted Huddleston as saying.
Huddleston described the potential effectiveness of an autonomous fleet in large maritime domains, including the Indo-Pacific.
“If you have enough of these in a waterway, it makes it very difficult to do any island invasions,” he explained. “We started this because we wanted to prevent the next war from even starting, and we believe that peaceful deterrence through strength is really the way to do that.”
About Albacore
Albacore has raised over $10 million from investors, including Y Combinator and Outlander VC, following its establishment 20 months ago.
Currently, the enterprise targets an initial production rate of 75 Ghostfins annually at its 20,000-square-foot (215,278-square-meter) facility in South Philadelphia, with plans to expand capacity to several thousand vehicles per year.
Alongside the US Navy, the firm plans to distribute its flagship undersea UUVs to partners in Taiwan and undisclosed international customers.
The company employs 25 personnel and expects to triple its workforce over the next year.
