American Anduril presents a new line of Copperhead autonomous underwater drones

American company Anduril Industries has unveiled a new line of autonomous underwater drones called Copperhead, which are aimed at expanding the capabilities of the unmanned fleet in the military and commercial sectors.

Here's What We Know

According to the developers, the new system is designed to respond to modern threats in the underwater environment and replace outdated platforms at a much lower cost.

The Copperhead family includes two main variants in different sizes. The basic Copperhead is designed for rapid response missions such as environmental monitoring, search and rescue operations, and infrastructure inspections. The drone can reach speeds of over 30 knots. It also carries active and passive sensors and magnetometers capable of detecting changes in the Earth's magnetic field.

The company paid special attention to the Copperhead-M combat variant, a "loitering munition" vehicle that can be launched from larger platforms such as the Dive-LD and Dive-XL unmanned vessels. The Copperhead-M has torpedo-like characteristics and is designed for mass production, which makes it suitable for mass deployment.

The Dive-XL vessel can carry dozens of small Copperhead-Ms, as well as several larger warheads, effectively turning into a mobile base for underwater autonomous weapons. The company notes that this solution allows the Dive-XL fleet to control ocean areas with an "unprecedented level of autonomous sea power".

Source: Anduril