According to the Financial Times, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have agreed to improve their ability to monitor "emerging threats" in space, one of several new initiatives related to the Australia-UK-US Trilateral Security Partnership (AUKUS, also known as the AUKUS Agreement) signed by the three countries in 2021 and as part of efforts to counterbalance China in the Indo-Pacific region. It is reported that Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States will each build a ground-based radar in their own countries to enhance "space domain situational awareness" and improve their ability to detect, track, and identify deep space objects. The first radar to be built in Western Australia will be operational in 2026 and the others will be completed in 2030. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles, and British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps unveiled the plan on December 1. The three defense ministers gathered in California for an annual think tank meeting aimed at strengthening trilateral cooperation on the Aukus Accord project.
Austin held separate talks with visiting Australian and British defense ministers on Friday. The three defense ministers also issued a joint statement after meeting at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and briefed the outside world on the promotion and implementation of the AUKUS agreement. The radar system mentioned above will protect the three countries' communications and navigation satellites "from future deadly threats," allowing them to detect, identify and track space threats up to 36,000 kilometers away, Shapps said.
"[The system] will be more agile, accurate, powerful and agile than any system ever before, giving us the ability to see beyond the clouds," Shapps said. In addition to the first pillar of the agreement, which is the joint efforts of the United States and the United Kingdom to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, the Aukus agreement includes a second pillar that focuses on other advanced technologies, from cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to research and development efforts on hypersonic** and anti-hypersonic**.
"For more than a century, the three countries have joined hands with other allies and partners to help maintain peace, stability and prosperity around the world," the joint statement read. The Ministers and Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged that in the face of an evolving security environment, the AUKUS agreement provides a generational opportunity to modernize and strengthen long-term partnerships and cooperation to address global security challenges and promote stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. The Ministers and Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed that at the heart of this partnership is a shared determination to strengthen security and stability and ensure that the Indo-Pacific remains a region free of coercion and aggression."
"With regard to Australia's purchase of conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines, the first pillar of the agreement, the AUKUS partners are working together to provide this capability as early as possible, while upholding the highest standards of nuclear non-proliferation," the joint statement continued. In terms of advanced capabilities, the second pillar of the agreement, AUKUS partners are deepening cooperation on a range of security and defense capabilities to ensure that countries have the capabilities they need to defend against rapidly evolving threats. Through these efforts, the AUKUS Accord pursues layered and asymmetric capabilities that promote security and stability, thereby contributing to integrated deterrence."
"The two ministers and the Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed the commitment of the three countries to maximize the strategic and technological advantages of the Aukus Agreement by uniting national forces and pooling resources to deliver game-changing capabilities," the joint statement said. They agreed that advancing the Aukus Agreement requires a continued commitment to simplifying defense** control and information sharing while minimizing policy and financial barriers for both the public and private sectors. The two ministers and the Deputy Prime Minister instructed their respective organizations to continue to take additional measures to promote efficient defense and industrial cooperation between the three countries".
It is understood that the United States has approved the training equipment related to the Aukus Agreement worth $2 billion to Australia, and the plan still needs to be approved by the U.S. Congress. A Pentagon** said: "These Xi and experiments will demonstrate the practical impact of the Aukus agreement. We are using the AUKUS agreement to rapidly accelerate the advancement and scale of autonomous systems in the maritime domain."
Australia, Britain and the United States also plan to use advanced artificial intelligence algorithms on the American-made P-8 patrol and reconnaissance aircraft to improve their anti-submarine warfare capabilities. These algorithms will help improve the processing of data obtained by the aircraft from tiny "sonar buoys" dropped into the ocean, which is important at a time when China is expanding its submarine fleet.
The three countries will also accelerate the development of quantum technology to improve navigation in the event of a possible degradation of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States will also launch an AUKUS "Innovation Challenge", inviting companies to participate in prize competitions in areas such as electronic warfare development. In an initiative that will be welcomed by defense contractors, the three countries will create an "industry forum" that will bring together executives and business executives in an effort to make research and development of advanced technologies easier. Some companies have complained that it is difficult to determine how to contribute to the Aukus Protocol program because much of the work is confidential and no relevant information is provided.
Austin said at a press conference after the meeting on Friday that the cooperation between the three countries under the framework of the Aukus agreement, this effort will quickly accelerate the advancement of unmanned aerial systems and prove that "we are stronger together." Under the first pillar of the Aukus agreement, the United States and Britain will help Australia equip a submarine fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines. According to the agreement, Australia will purchase three Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines from the United States and cooperate with the United Kingdom to build five new Aukus-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. The submarines will be powered by U.S. nuclear technology, equipped with conventional**, and built in Adelaide, Australia, with the first submarine expected to be completed around 2040.
Mars said that great progress has been made on the submarine project. He added that as an island nation, Australia needs to improve its maritime drone and precision strike capabilities. With China "undermining freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific, we have never needed more innovation," Shapps said. He stressed the importance of open navigation in the oceans, including the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea.
The Associated Press reported that officers of the Royal Australian Navy have begun training in nuclear power technology at the U.S. ** school. In addition, earlier this year, the United States announced that it would expand its military industrial base to help Australia produce guided missiles and rockets for both countries within two years. Under the agreement, the United States and Australia will cooperate in the production of guided multiple launch rocket systems for Australia by 2025.
The new agreement also identifies a series of military Xi involving the use of submarine and surface maritime drones and improves the ability of the three countries to share intelligence and data collected by their sonar buoys. Sonar buoys are used to detect submarines and other underwater objects. The agreement also calls for expanding the use of artificial intelligence, including on P-8A patrol reconnaissance aircraft, in order to process data from buoys more quickly, thereby improving anti-submarine warfare. The agreement also said that the three countries will establish new radar stations to enhance their capabilities to detect and track objects in deep space.
"Together, these activities enhance the capabilities, collective security and deterrence of AUKUS partners in an ever-changing strategic and security environment," the three defense ministers said in a statement. AUKUS partners remain committed to deepening trilateral cooperation, enhancing information and technology sharing, and integrating our defense industrial base to further strengthen the joint military capabilities and resilience of the three countries. The initiatives and achievements announced today advance these goals and set the stage for continued partnership and a bold and innovative future for the AUKUS Accord."
"Today, the Aukus agreement enters a new phase," Shapps said. Together with our partners in the United States and Australia, we have strengthened our alliances, bringing our armed forces closer than ever before, ensuring that our nation is protected from new and advanced threats. As the world becomes more dangerous, the Aukus agreement becomes even more important in ensuring that Britain and our allies maintain a strategic advantage. That's why we're pushing for joint initiatives on threat detection, quantum technology, and autonomous systems today. This progress will fundamentally improve our collective ability to respond to emerging threats and demonstrate our commitment to making our military more lethal, connected, and prepared."
"The Aukus agreement has proven time and time again that together we are stronger," Austin said at a news conference. Every day, we are moving toward a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. So, Deputy Prime Minister Mars and Minister of Defense Sharps. I sincerely thank you for your leadership and friendship, and for all that you have done for our common security. I look forward to further strengthening our partnership and building a more secure future together."
"All of these are practical steps forward, on the basis of the architecture that has been established today in relation to the second pillar, and I think that when we look back at the importance of today's meeting, we will see it as a critical meeting, a watershed moment in the progress of the second pillar of the Aukus agreement," Mars told reporters. In all of our work, Pillars 1 and 2, and the friendship between the three of us, what is really clear is that the Aukus Agreement represents a powerful combination of countries working together, and it is sending a very important message to the world. I think all of us talked about the fact that each of our countries is stronger when we meet together to discuss these technologies, when we take these steps together on this path".