DG-900

The DG-900 is DRASS's compact conventional submarine, serving as the AUV host platform in the joint Kongsberg-DRASS bid for AUKUS Pillar II undersea-warfare procurement. Announced at ILA Berlin on 8 June 2026, the DG-900 is configured to carry and recover up to three HUGIN Superior AUVs in a continuous launch cycle, offering a seabed-warfare package distinct from the torpedo-tube-launched vehicles named in AUKUS's 30 May Signature Project. No contract value or AUKUS customer commitment was disclosed.

The DG-900 sits within DRASS's DG-series, which ranges from one-person swimmer-delivery vehicles to mission-configured compact submarines. Unlike full-size attack submarines, the DG-900 does not require nuclear propulsion and is sized for navies, such as Australia's interim fleet, that cannot operate nuclear boats but need AUV-launch capability before SSN-AUKUS boats arrive in the 2030s. Its compact displacement also reduces the acoustic signature footprint that full-size boats produce during AUV operations, though Chinese naval analysis has noted that AUV launch-and-recovery itself generates a detectable acoustic event regardless of the host vessel's size.

The ITAR compatibility of the DG-900 for AUKUS procurement has not been publicly confirmed. A technology-transfer waiver from the US may be required before any AUKUS nation can purchase the platform with programme funding. This is the primary near-term risk to the Kongsberg-DRASS bid at the platform layer, distinct from Kongsberg's HUGIN payload, which holds an existing NATO qualification record.