Britain just fired a torpedo from a submarine with no crew on board

Britain and America just fired a torpedo from an underwater drone for the first time.

No human was on board. Nobody even had a hand near it.

The UK government announced it about an hour ago. This is part of AUKUS, the alliance between Britain, America and Australia.

So when did the actual test happen? About a week ago, somewhere in UK waters. Nobody's saying exactly where or when. One photo caption puts the drone at a Scottish harbour five days before the announcement. That's not confirmed as the test site.

Here's what we do know. The torpedo was a heavyweight type. America and Australia built it together.

It fired from a submarine drone called XV Excalibur. Twelve metres long. Built in Britain, by a Plymouth company called MSubs. Its home is the Royal Navy base in Plymouth.

And here's the wild part. The people controlling it weren't in Plymouth. They were in Australia. More than 16,000 kilometres away.

The Royal Navy calls that a big step forward in operating uncrewed systems together with Australia.

Australia had already taken remote control of Excalibur from that same distance once before, in a joint exercise last August. But nobody had fired a torpedo through that link before now.

So this test proved two things at once. The remote link works over 16,000 kilometres. And you can fire a live weapon through it.

Sidharth Kaushal watched this closely. He's a senior research fellow at RUSI, a defence think tank. He called the test noteworthy.

He told AFP: "the employment of a lethal payload illustrates that uncrewed systems can play roles which extend beyond surveillance."

That's an independent expert saying this isn't just a bigger drone. It's a different kind of weapon.

The UK government calls it a major advance in the future of submarine technology. It says the test is a breakthrough for what it calls Euro-Atlantic security and NATO's undersea advantage.