US company to profit from Ghost Shark contract

Written by: Nick G. on 15 September 2025

 

(US Navy telling Conroy and Marles all about the Ghost Shark.  Credit: www.sofx.com) 

On September 10, US agents of influence Richard Marles and Pat Conroy announced a $1.7 billion spend on extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles – known as the Ghost Shark – for the Royal Australian Navy.

The government’s announcement emphasised that the prime contractor, Anduril Australia, was part of “Australia’s defence industry” and that the investment reflected “the Albanese Government’s unwavering commitment to supporting Australian innovation, backing Australian workers and building a defence future made in Australia.”

It also sounded very patriotic and a triumph for Australia.

What it didn’t say is that Anduril is a private US company, unlisted on the Australian Stock Exchange, and that the profits from its operations here will go straight into the pockets of its US owners.

Anduril was created in 2017 with seed funding from the venture capitalist Founders Fund whose leader is the far-right activist Peter Thiel. Thiel was also one of the founders of the notorious data mining company Palantir, which provides software support for government surveillance technologies including facial recognition tools used by militaries and police forces. 

Anduril opened a wholly-owned Australian subsidiary in 2022, poaching David Goodrich, a key Defence Department advisor on Australian Defence Force contracts. He had led and negotiated 35 major transactions over an eight-year period for the ADF with multinational armaments companies including Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Airbus. 

In 2024 it recruited Rear Admiral Peter Quinn as its vice-President of Strategy. Quinn was the Head of Navy Capability for five years. His responsibility in that role was to identify the needs and requirements of Navy’s future capabilities and to plan for, develop and deliver them to the fleet.

It is true that the Ghost Shark is Australian-designed and will be built by Australian workers. 

Compared to the nuclear-powered Virginnia class submarines designed to sit off the coast of China, it is also more suited to Australia’s coastal defence - or perhaps, more accurately, to supporting US aggression in our immediate region.

In the words of Anduril’s US CEO, Brian Schimpf, “The Australian Defence Force has long punched above its weight and been in the vanguard of regional security in the Indo-Pacific region, a role they will be asked to play more and more in the coming decades.”

“Asked to play…told to play,” it all depends on how you view the US stranglehold on Australia, and the subservience of our political leaders.

But the Ghost Shark also has limited endurance and is reliant on guidance by ultra-low frequency radio waves of the type sent out from the North West Cape base. This base can be easily destroyed in the event of a conflict. 

Former submariner and SA Senator Rex Patrick has questioned the price of the contract, describing it as “Ghost money - where there’s more stealth in the budget than there is in the capability. But the $1.7B deal will be music to Trump’s ears.”

This announcement, together with 12 billion to be spent on upgrading the Henderson naval facility in WA for Us and UK submarines, represents the theft of better schools, a functioning health care system, improved regional roads and many other basic services needed by our communities.

Louder voices need to be raised for genuine anti-imperialist independence and socialism.

 

 

 

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