DRASS
Italian compact-submarine builder; DG-900 provides the AUV host platform in Europe's AUKUS Pillar II bid.
DRASS, the Italian submarine builder, partnered with Norway's Kongsberg on 8 June 2026 to bid its DG-900 compact submarine into AUKUS Pillar II procurement, offering navies without large attack-submarine fleets a route into seabed autonomy.
Last refreshed: 3 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can DRASS's compact submarine break into an AUKUS programme designed around US vehicles?
Timeline for DRASS
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Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
DRASS, based in Livorno, is an Italian manufacturer of small submarines, diving systems and hyperbaric chambers, drawing on Italy's submarine-technology Heritage and the wider Fincantieri industrial ecosystem. Its DG-series ranges from one-person swimmer-delivery vehicles to the DG-900, a compact conventional submarine built for autonomous underwater vehicle launch and recovery.
The DG-900's usual buyers are special-operations units and research institutes wanting a submarine smaller than a full attack boat. Its Kongsberg tie-up puts that same hull forward as a compact AUV host, a role distinct from Kongsberg's own sensor and vehicle business: DRASS supplies the carrying platform, not the underwater vehicle itself.
The commercial significance runs beyond DRASS's specialist niche: it gives a mid-sized European manufacturer a plausible foothold in AUKUS-scale procurement, provided technology-transfer rules eventually allow a non-AUKUS-nation submarine into the programme.
DRASS bids a compact hull into AUKUS
DRASS partnered with Norway's Kongsberg on 8 June 2026 to bid for AUKUS Pillar II undersea-warfare procurement, contributing its DG-900 compact submarine as the launch-and-recovery platform for Kongsberg's HUGIN Superior autonomous underwater vehicles.
The DG-900 carries up to three AUVs, offering a repeatable cycle a single vehicle cannot sustain, and gives navies without nuclear-powered submarines a route into seabed autonomy before boats like Australia's SSN-AUKUS class arrive in the 2030s. No contract value or AUKUS customer commitment has followed the announcement, and whether the DG-900 clears US export-control review for AUKUS procurement remains the open question determining whether DRASS's bid converts into business.
DRASS bids into AUKUS seabed warfare
How does a compact submarine host AUVs differently from a large attack submarine?
What does DRASS make and why is it relevant to AUKUS?
Has DRASS won any new contracts since the AUKUS bid announcement?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 3 August 2026. Editorial standards.