The new AUKUS experiment shows how allies with autonomy will accelerate naval operations

US, Australian, British and Japanese defense officials converged on Australia’s Jervis Bay this week for a week-long experiment to test how to integrate new and developing technology from different countries to speed up data transmission of intelligence and reconnaissance at sea. The results: “Things that might have taken months were taking minutes in terms of common operational imagery,” a senior defense official told reporters.

The so-called Maritime Big Play exercise is part of the wider AUKUS partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The first pillar of AUKUS focuses on the joint development of a nuclear-powered submarine, while the second pillar involves the joint development and deployment of emerging technologies such as autonomous drones.

Madeline Mortelmans, the current acting undersecretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities, told reporters Wednesday that progress on Pillar II of AUKUS is already changing the way allies think about joint operations and deployment of new technologies.

“We are advancing our undersea warfare capabilities by expanding our ability to launch and recover unmanned underwater systems from the torpedo tubes of current classes of British and US submarines,” he said. “This will increase the reach and capability of our submarine forces. We are integrating the Sting Ray light torpedo (BAE) into the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, which will support our forces to be more interchangeable while providing resilience to ammunition stockpiles in AUKUS nations.

The testing at Jervis Bay served as a showcase for many new drone technologies and other systems, both on and off the water, from across the alliance. “Much of the equipment that was brought to the party was from members,” said an official. Some of the systems brought by the United States include the GARC unmanned surface ship, the Vanilla long-endurance UAV, and the Ocean Aero (Triton) submarine and surface ship.

“This was all industry. We had 30 different systems here, from the seabed to the stratosphere,” said one official.

The experiments tested how well the systems and the military could collect and disseminate information and data.

“The testing and experimentation was driven by specific scenarios. So think about the need to use a combination of unmanned and manned assets to do a very large area (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), e.g. , and to maintain a common operational image,” an official said.

Another goal of the experiment was to identify how allies could modify or develop specific tactics, techniques, and procedures to enable faster sharing of data and intelligence across the alliance, and to do so from the broad range of drones and other assets.

“We demonstrated not just the systems … but how we would use those systems. So the specific TTPs that will help us do that more effectively, accelerate our adoption, and also help us understand how we would do together, by connecting and communicating and command and control the devices,” another official said.

Japanese officials attended the briefings this week as AUKUS nations are considering closer collaboration with Japan in these areas.

A former senior defense official said Defense One, “The integration of increasingly autonomous capabilities is critical to the future success of all three navies.” The experiment “provides a unique platform for experimentation to ensure that each country benefits from the other’s advances, helping AUKUS partners scale better than future capabilities faster,” he said.