Robert Peters
In September 2021, the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced a plan to cooperate on their respective nuclear attack submarine programs and technological advancement. The result: AUKUS, a trilateral partnership that promotes security in the Indo-Pacific region.
AUKUS is divided into two pillars. In Pillar I, the three nations share nuclear-propulsion technology, hull design, port and berthing rights, and officers on certain submarine patrols. Eventually, the program will include the selling of U.S.-made Virginia-class submarines and will, by the 2030s and 2040s, lead to the production of AUKUS-class submarines in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Pillar 2, as then Assistant Secretary of Defense Madeline Mortelmans described it, “focuses on the development and delivery of emerging technology….[and] is designed to harness the combined industrial and innovation bases of the trilateral partners to ensure that our forces are equipped with cutting edge interoperable military capabilities and prepared to face down aggression in whatever form it may take.”
Put another way, while Pillar 1 is very much focused on one important but relatively small component of military power—attack submarines—Pillar 2 lays the groundwork for almost great amount of industrial and technical cooperation that goes well beyond maritime sub-surface operations. Indeed, there are virtually no limits to how Washington and its allies in Canberra and London can collaborate when it comes to defense innovation.
AUKUS Is a Good First Step, But It Needs to Go Further
This is welcome news, given the advances of America’s adversaries. From China’s continued focus on quantity and quality of forces, to Russia’s emphasis on large quantities of missiles and land attack capabilities, to North Korea’s ever-maturing missile arsenal, to Iran’s pursuit of the Bomb, the Axis of the Autocracies is striving to overcome U.S. and U.S. allied technological superiority. The type of collaboration laid out in AUKUS could enable the United States and its allies to stay ahead of their adversaries in the quest to secure military advantage. » Read More
https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/aukus-should-build-center-experimentation-western-australia