Overview

• Excalibur XLUUV was remotely piloted from a command centre in Australia more than 10,000 miles away during July’s Maritime Big Play exercise.
• The 12-metre-long, 2-metre-wide demonstrator built by MSubs displaces about 19 tonnes and carries modular payloads in an open-architecture design.
• Key performance metrics including propulsion, speed and maximum range remain classified as Excalibur operates unarmed in its technology demonstrator role.
• Over the next 24 months, the Royal Navy’s Fleet Experimentation Squadron under AUKUS Pillar II will conduct extended sea trials to explore endurance, seabed warfare tactics and sensor deployment.
• Allied cooperation efforts have expanded to include underwater acoustic communication trials with Japan and integration with the surface experimentation vessel XV Patrick Blackett.