Anduril has introduced Copperhead, a torpedo-inspired underwater attack drone designed to provide fast, cost-efficient responses to undersea threats.
The software-driven system aims to boost naval capabilities by allowing forces to counter maritime threats more efficiently, improving the defense of key assets and personnel.
It comes in two models — Copperhead-100 and Copperhead-500 — offering different sizes, strike ranges, and payload capacities to suit diverse operational needs.
It can also reach a speed greater than 30 knots (55 kilometers/34 miles per hour) and can be equipped with active and passive sensors, magnetometers, and side-scan sonar.
According to Anduril, the kamikaze drone ushers in a new era of autonomous undersea dominance, providing a “mass-producible” solution at a fraction of the cost of legacy systems.
Works With Large Underwater Vehicles
Copperhead is billed as the first torpedo-style weapon deployable from autonomous underwater systems.
Designed to launch from Anduril’s Dive-LD and Dive-XL platforms, it expands the reach of autonomous seapower, enabling broader and more efficient control of ocean territory.
“Current systems are expensive, slow to produce, and tightly coupled to legacy platforms like nuclear submarines and warships,” the company stated.
“The US and its allies need far more autonomous, quickly-deployable subsea systems that can integrate with the expanding fleet of autonomous subsea, surface, and air vehicles.”
Beyond precision strikes, the Copperhead can support critical missions such as search and rescue, infrastructure inspection, and environmental monitoring.
Anduril plans to integrate the Copperhead into larger uncrewed undersea platforms, including its Ghost Shark autonomous submarine, to further expand its capabilities.
