An XLUUV resembles a small conventional submarine without the crew. That similarity matters for Britain and Australia because the uncrewed craft can perform portions of the local undersea mission while nuclear submarines handle distant, sustained patrols. It does not make every SSK function disappear, but it changes the force-structure comparison. Autonomy may therefore reshape the lower end of the submarine force.
Notable Point · 1:59:14-1:59:47
XLUUVs and the future of the local SSK mission
Extra-large uncrewed undersea vehicles could absorb some local SSK missions and make a separate conventional-submarine fleet harder to justify.