QinetiQ backs AUKUS autonomous submarine torpedo firing trials at BUTEC range

• QinetiQ backed AUKUS Pillar 2 trials that fired a US Navy inert Mk48 heavy torpedo from the Royal Navy’s autonomous submarine platform.
• Trials at the MOD’s BUTEC range in northwest Scotland used the RN’s XV Excalibur XLUUV, signaling allied payload interoperability.
• Hammerhead uncrewed surface vessels served as targets, marking first range use for the torpedo, the XLUUV, and Hammerhead.

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