Britain and the United States have successfully test-fired a torpedo from an uncrewed undersea vessel for the first time, marking a historic shift away from crewed submarine launches, the UK government announced Monday.
The live-fire exercise took place in UK waters last week under the auspices of the AUKUS trilateral security partnership with Australia. London described the trial as a “major advance in the future of submarine technology” for the three nations, delivering a “significant breakthrough for Euro-Atlantic security and NATO’s undersea advantage.”
As Western nations accelerate the modernization of warfighting capabilities through autonomous systems to counter threats from adversaries such as Russia and Iran, the test demonstrates a critical leap in uncrewed lethality. The heavyweight torpedo—jointly developed by the US and Australia—was launched from a 12-meter (40-foot) British-manufactured undersea drone designated Excalibur.
Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), characterized the development as “noteworthy,” telling AFP that “the employment of a lethal payload illustrates that uncrewed systems can play roles which extend beyond surveillance.”
The announcement coincides with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where he is scheduled to hold his first meeting with US President Donald Trump since assuming office in July. Burnham intends to leverage the trip to advance global cooperation on artificial intelligence, unveiling a new UK-US partnership on AI and autonomy designed to protect critical national infrastructure across sea lanes and airspace.
“This week I will be making the case for closer international cooperation on AI, a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and renewed efforts to bring an end to the conflict in the Middle East because what happens abroad impacts each and every one of us at home,” Burnham stated. He also confirmed that Britain will host the G20 summit in November 2027 in Manchester.
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