US introduces new AUKUS efforts focused on advanced warfighting

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Friday that the U. S. is developing and experimenting advanced warfighting capabilities with the United Kingdom and Australia, marking a leap forward in the second phase of a trilateral alliance between the countries to bolster their Indo-Pacific presence.

Austin said the Australia-U. K-U. S.

alliance — known as AUKUS — was moving toward “innovating with cutting edge tech” in the defense industry on artificial intelligence (AI), electronic warfare and quantum technology. The Pentagon chief met with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and U. K.

Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps in Mountain View, Calif. , on Friday, at the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit’s headquarters. He said he held a productive discussion with the defense ministers and they reaffirmed their commitment to meet the goals of AUKUS.

“Again and again, AUKUS proves that we are stronger together and every day we move closer to our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Austin said. The first pillar of AUKUS is focused on helping Australia build its own conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine by the early 2040s and for Canberra to buy at least three U. S.

-nuclear-powered submarines in the 2030s. But the second pillar is centered on advanced warfighting capabilities between the three nations, including a series of experimental exercises with autonomous weapon systems in the waters of the Indo-Pacific region that will begin in 2024. A senior U.

S. defense official said the exercise series was “a bold new effort into testing, developing and delivering advanced maritime autonomous systems to our warfighters. ” “We’re using AUKUS to rapidly accelerate the sophistication and scale of systems in the maritime domain,” the official said.

“Through AUKUS, we’re also building an enabling ecosystem for our three nations to innovate and share information, ideas and capabilities. ” They added that experiments were conducted with robotics and autonomous systems in South Australia in October and they are planning for a more robust integration of the systems in land and sea domains next year. As a frame of reference for the exercises, the official pointed to autonomous systems used in Task Force 59, a U.

S. Navy task force — which has reached full operational capability with smaller AI-powered systems that carry cameras or collect information. Marles on Friday said progress was being made “as we speak” on AUKUS pillar one, including U.

S. submarine port visits to Australia, the construction of necessary infrastructure and Australian engineers training with American personnel. But the defense minister said the second pillar of the alliance “has taken center stage” in the latest round of talks this week.

“When we look back at the significance of today’s meeting, we will see this as the critical meeting, which was a watershed in the progress of pillar two,” Marles said, describing AUKUS as changing the “character” of his nation and empowering it. The second AUKUS pillar builds on Replicator, a new Pentagon initiative announced by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks over the summer. With Replicator, the Pentagon is pushing to develop and field thousands of autonomous systems within two years, spurring major advancements in the defense industry to meet the ambitious goals.

The Defense Department this week also announced a new working group made up of government and defense industry representatives from the U. S. , Australia and the U.

K. to facilitate the development of advanced systems and warfighting capabilities under the second pillar. President Biden announced AUKUS in 2021, touting a new vision for an alliance that will act as a major enhancement of U.

S. posture in the Indo-Pacific and serve as a counter to the growing military of China. In March, Biden laid out a firm path for Australia to develop and acquire nuclear-powered submarines, starting with a training plan for Australian sailors to work with the U.

S. and U. K.

Navy at submarine ports this year. The U. S.

also began increasing American nuclear-powered submarine visits to Australia in 2023. .