The trilateral security partnership among the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia, also known as AUKUS, offers a unique opportunity for these nations to enhance their military capabilities, deepen interoperability and strengthen deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.
Austin met in London today with his AUKUS counterparts: British Defense Secretary John Healey and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, who also serves as his country’s deputy prime minister.
Progress has been made toward providing Australia with a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine, Austin said, noting that over the past year, the number of Australian sailors attending U.S. and U.K. nuclear reactor schools has increased and a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine visited an Australian port.
“This was just the first step toward ensuring that Australia has a sovereign nuclear-powered submarine capability. We’re also making progress toward having a rotational presence of U.S. submarines by as early as 2027,” Austin said.
The United States also remains committed to supporting Australia’s efforts to recruit and train the skilled workforce needed to build, maintain, sustain and operate a nuclear-powered submarine, Austin said.
The AUKUS partnership has two pillars. The first is to enable Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability as rapidly as possible, most likely in the early 2030s, the senior defense official said.
The second pillar is to accelerate emerging capabilities, the official said.
Areas of focus within the Pillar II include uncrewed maritime systems, artificial intelligence, autonomy, electronic warfare, quantum, cyber and hypersonics, the official said.
Japan will be working on the maritime autonomy aspect. Conversations with Canada, South Korea and New Zealand are underway on how each can contribute to Pillar II, the official said.
Also, as part of Pillar II, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have committed to reducing export control restrictions to facilitate secure trade among AUKUS partners, including the sale of U.S. Virginia-class submarines to Australia, the official said.
Congress amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations as part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act and implemented an export licensing exemption for Australia and the United Kingdom, the official said.
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