"We’re already making good progress on the design and development of the next generation submarine in the UK, where we have more than 1,000 people working on the SSN-AUKUS program and major infrastructure investment underway," BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said.
"So that's one thing I would encourage the [Australian] government to do, is be transparent as possible on what the plans ahead are so industry can can respond and be ready," Northrop Grumman executive Tom Wears said.
Judith Collins, New Zealand’s Minister of Defence, tells Breaking Defense that no matter what happens with AUKUS, her government is "looking at as much interoperability" as possible with Australia.
"The reality is the Americans are not going to make their submarine deficit worse than it is already by giving or selling submarines to Australia and the AUKUS legislation actually sets that out quite specifically," former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.
The US Army chief, Gen. Randy George, offered an intriguing possible win for AUKUS Pillar 2: "a common controller" for unmanned systems, allowing the three allies to exchange systems.
"The reforms will deliver, in our judgment...a net decrease in regulatory compliance costs, and actually expand the amount of research that can occur internationally without a permit," Hugh Jeffrey, Australia's deputy secretary of strategy, policy, and industry, said today.
The trial, which took place in South Australia, is the latest in a series of experimental efforts associated with AUKUS' Pillar II.
“The opportunity for our Navy personnel to learn from our AUKUS partners demonstrates meaningful progress along Australia’s pathway to acquiring nuclear-powered submarines,” Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
"We have been clear and direct about our concerns. And I noted in my remarks that, as we've watched this happen, we're prepared to take steps to respond to that kind of activity ...,” said President Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, while otherwise lauding progress with Beijing.
AI analysis of sensor data, including new kinds of quantum-based detection, could give a lethal edge in undersea warfare — to either the Australia-UK-US alliance or to China.
“This project will build a foundation for future joint research on robotic and collaborative autonomy, aiming to deliver advanced capabilities to support asymmetric advantage,” Tanya Monro, Australia’s chief defense scientist, said in a statement.
Keep your eyes on the Second Scarborough Shoal and other atolls in the South China Sea, where China has pressed an increasingly aggressive and dangerous campaign.
The advent of AUKUS has brought the Navy's submarine community into the national spotlight and that has led it to breakaway from its historical silence.
Even before the big announcement from the heads of state in March, 2023 has been filled with AUKUS news.
The biggest strategic shift in the Indo-Pacific was clearly the combination of China's economy faltering at the same time as turmoil roiled the top echelons of the Chinese Communist Party and its government.