AUKUS unveils underwater drones project to protect undersea cables and counter maritime threats

Aukus: US, UK and Australia to develop underwater drone technology

The US, UK and Australia say they will develop underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables and boost defence, under their military alliance known as Aukus. The uncrewed unmanned vehicles (UUVs) technology is expected to be ready by next year. While the project's total cost was not stated, British defence secretary John Healey said the UK would contribute £150m ($201m). The announcement, made by the countries' defence ministers at a security summit in Singapore, follows claims of slow progress in Aukus's projects. Acknowledging the criticism, Healey said "for too long in Aukus, we talked too much and delivered too little", adding "that has now changed under our three governments". The Aukus defence pact, which began in 2021, sees the three countries developing nuclear submarines and sharing military expertise. It is widely seen as a way to counter China's growing maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific and its role in rising tensions in disputed territories such as the South China Sea. The UUV technology is the first signature project under Aukus's Pillar Two, where the partner countries work together on "advanced capabilities" in areas such as long-range hypersonic missiles, undersea robotics and AI. A joint statement said the new project would see "cutting edge payloads and enabling systems" developed for UUVs which could protect seabed infrastructure, conduct strikes, surveil and do reconnaissance, and conduct logistics operations. Healey also said that sensors and weapons systems would be developed for the UUVs, which would "rapidly give our forces advanced battle technologies". It would also help them deal with threats "including to our underwater cables and pipelines on which so much of our daily life depends". Such efforts would strengthen deterrence in the Pacific, Atlantic and waters in the High North, he added. The announcement comes a month after Healey accused Russia of running a covert operation over cables and pipelines in waters north of the UK. Moscow has denied the allegations. In December, the UK and Norway signed a pact to hunt Russian submarines in the North Atlantic to protect undersea cables. The UK is connected by about 60 undersea cables, which British officials say are increasingly under threat from Moscow, with a 30% rise in Russian vessels spotted in UK waters over the past few years. Elsewhere, Chinese ships are suspected to have damaged undersea cables in waters surrounding Taiwan and in Swedish territory. On Saturday the three defence ministers did not respond to a question from the BBC on whether the UUV technology project was aimed at countering Russian and Chinese undersea activities. They also did not answer a question on whether progress on Aukus projects was too slow. Under Pillar One of the defence pact, nuclear-powered attack submarines would be built in the UK and Australia for use in their navies. For Australia in particular, the deal represents a major upgrade to its military capabilities. The country will become just the second to receive Washington's elite nuclear propulsion technology, after the UK which began receiving it decades ago. But questions have been increasingly asked in Australia about whether the country's biggest-ever defence project could be achieved in time to replace their ageing submarines - or if at all. The Aukus submarines are only scheduled to be ready in the 2040s. In the meantime, the US and UK will be rotating their existing nuclear-powered submarines through Australia, and in the 2030s Australia will buy secondhand nuclear submarines from the US. Days before arriving in Singapore for the Shangri-la Dialogue, Australia's defence minister Richard Marles addressed this criticism saying they had to go ahead with the Aukus submarine project as there was no "plan B". On Saturday, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the plan to rotate US and UK nuclear-powered submarines through Australia was "still on track", with the first US navy personnel due to arrive later this year. Australian defence minister Richard Marles said that the HMAS Stirling navy base in Western Australia would be ready to host the rotational submarine force by the end of 2027, and that "work is at a pace" to establish a construction yard in South Australia that would build the Aukus submarines.

AUKUS nations to develop underwater drones through defence pact

The US, Britain and Australia will develop underwater drones to respond to the threat of adversaries damaging submerged cables and pipelines. Unmanned undersea vehicles will be developed under the AUKUS defence pact, US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth said. Defence leaders from the US, Britain and Australia met in Singapore on Saturday to discuss plans to "step on the accelerator" and progress the development of cutting-edge military technologies. The security pact will see Australia acquire a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to patrol the Pacific Ocean in a bid to counter China's expansion in the region. Under "pillar two" of the agreement, the countries will collaborate to develop advanced defence technology, including quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology. AUKUS, which was formed by the three countries in 2021, is part of their efforts to push back against China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific region. China has called the AUKUS pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race. Standing beside UK Defence Secretary John Healey and Australian defence minister Richard Marles on the sidelines of the Shangri-La conference, Mr Hegseth said the new unmanned vessels would boost the pact's power. "The signature project will deliver a suite of highly adaptable multi-mission UUV (uncrewed underwater vehicle) payloads designed to support undersea operations and maintain our collective advantage in the maritime domain," Mr Hegseth said. Mr Healey said the UUVs would strengthen all three countries' ability to respond to threats, including adversaries targeting underwater cables and pipelines. "This will rapidly give our forces the very most advanced battlefield technologies as together we produce a range of cutting-edge sensors and weapons ⁠systems for undersea drones," he said. He added: "For too long in AUKUS, we talked too much and delivered too little." The event marked Mr Hegseth's second time addressing the forum, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. His address last year drew criticism from Beijing after he warned of the threat posed by China, particularly its stance towards Taiwan. Read more from Sky News: Four trapped in flooded cave in Laos pulled to safety Canadian who admitted aiding suicide won't face UK justice In his speech at this year's conference, Mr Hegseth said China could not be allowed to dominate the region. "There is rightful alarm regarding China's historic military build up and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond," he said. "We share a clear-eyed assessment of that security environment and a mutual understanding that a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power and undermine the equilibrium we all seek to preserve." Addressing the forum after Mr Hegseth, Mr Marles said that while the international rules-based order is not perfect, the "task before us, all of us, including the great powers, is the renovation of that order, not its dismemberment". "When the rules apply, smaller states have agency," he said. "When the rules yield to power, sovereignty becomes, as others have put it, the purview of the powerful, and no state in this room today, whatever its size, is well served by that outcome."