"Rheinmetall didn't build a Boxer factory in Australia as an act of charity. They did it because we paid them to do it," Marcus Hellyer, an Australian defense acquisition expert, told Breaking Defense. "That gives them the capacity to now build stuff for Germany and that will mean that there will be jobs in 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 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.
"From my last two years of work advocating for more military aid for Ukraine, it is evident that the biggest hand brake is hesitancy in the Department of Defense,” Kateryna Argyrou, co-chair of the main Ukrainian NGO in Australia, said.
The $600 million contract calls for "advanced protection, fighting capabilities and a sensors suit."
“I won't go into details of the nature of that drone for security reasons,” Pat Conroy told reporters in Canberra. "But I want to assure everyone in this country that we are spending lots of time working on drones."
The trial, which took place in South Australia, is the latest in a series of experimental efforts associated with AUKUS' Pillar II.
“The opportunities that are open to our space and technology sectors are actually immense," New Zealand’s Defence Minister Judith Collins said.
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.
After keeping mum on the issue for weeks, minister for defense procurement Pat Conroy said Kyiv's request came too late, months after the helos had been destined for disposal.
"It is very 'wolf warrior' in style and I think it underlines that from Beijing's perspective, there is no real 'reset' or 'stabilisation of the relationship,'" Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told Breaking Defense.
The four USVs featured in the exercise collectively transited 46,000 nautical miles over several months.
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.
Even before the big announcement from the heads of state in March, 2023 has been filled with AUKUS news.