New torpedoes for P-8s and Pillar II awards: AUKUS leaders in London

LONDON — The three defense leaders of the AUKUS nations today announced plans for a new bilateral security alliance between the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as the fact that UK-made torpedoes will arm the three AUKUS P-8 sub hunter fleets.

But when it comes to one area of particular interest for the defense industry — a series of technology development efforts known as Pillar II that could, in time, include countries outside the US, UK and Australia — US officials are saying that patience may be a virtue.

Today’s meeting of US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin, UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles came with three top-level announcements related to Pilar I, which involves the nuclear submarine fleets.

First, UK-made Sting Ray torpedoes, produced by BAE Systems, will be approved for use on the combined fleets of P-8 sub hunting aircraft. All three AUKUS nations operate the Boeing-made maritime surveillance aircraft; the US operates 120, Australia 12, and the United Kingdom nine.

Second, the UK has agreed to increase the number of Australians it will train on maintaining and regulating nuclear-powered submarines, a key issue as the Aussies seek to stand up their infrastructure for a capability they have never had before. And thirdly, the UK and Australia pledged to launch into a new “bilateral treaty” to strengthen the bonds between the two nations militarily, even outside the AUKUS framework.

But today’s meetings and on the sidelines, Pillar II also got attention.

“I and our UK Government will work to maximize the benefits of AUKUS [for our three nations] advancing technology, developing new military capabilities, securing economic gains and growing good jobs,” Healey said during his opening remarks. “We will work to maximize the potential for this ever-closer alliance to reinforce global security and stability.”

The AUKUS nations announced that a first winners of a trilaterally sponsored innovation prize challenge, focused on electronic warfare. The New York-based Distributed Spectrum claimed $150,000 for a radio frequency sensing platform, while Advanced Design Technology, Inovor Technologies, and Penten from Australia were also awarded funds, along with the UK’s Amiosec, University of Liverpool, RokeManor Research, and Autonomous Devices.

“Challenges are one way for the Department of Defense to easily work with our partners and allies to identify and potentially scale capabilities,” Doug Beck, the director of the Defense Innovation Unit, said in the announcement of the award. “The EW Challenge is an exciting first step in deepening partnerships with some of our closest allies, creating networks across our commercial and tech sectors, and building resilience across our industrial bases and supply chains.”

Based on the challenge’s success, the trio of defense officials today endorsed plans for a two-year agenda that will increase collaboration between and among our innovation centers of excellence, according to a joint readout  from the day’s meetings.

Pillar II May Be A Waiting Game

Two US officials briefed reporters stateside this week ahead of the trip, and emphasized that Pillar II is still very much a work in progress.

For now, Pillar II work centers on six technology areas: undersea, quantum, artificial intelligence and autonomy, cyber, hypersonic work, and electronic warfare. And while — the first US defense official said there is an “openness to looking at more” and potentially adding to that list, for now, the focus is on prioritizing the already-identified focus areas.

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“Every four months, the senior body gets together, and what it’s doing is approving projects,” the second senior US defense official said. “So, project proposals come in…they’re vetted and then moved up for approval…. We started already.”

That continuous process, the second US defense official added, is using something similar to DARPA’s Heilmeier questions to lay out the case for a capability. Those include:

What are the exact objectives?
How is it done today, and what are the limits?
What is new about this approach?
What are the risks?
How much will it cost?
How long will it take?

“That’s actually laying out the case for why this project is AUKUS’ed,” the second senior US defense official said on Tuesday. “What [will] the benefits be operationally? What [are] the measurements be in terms of performance and milestones? If we approve it to make it move ahead, how will it be funded?”

That development and acquisition funding question for Pillar II, according to the first US defense official, will take time to work through and means industry may not see just what big-ticket AUKUS-related opportunities are available.

“[We] probably would need some time to figure out what the timetable is because part of it requires three nations to commit funds, and so I wouldn’t want to get ahead of anybody else’s budget,” the first defense official added.

Which doesn’t mean there has been nothing to come out of Pillar II. Over the summer, Breaking Defense reported that a trilateral algorithm for information sharing among the P-8 fleets of the three nations would be operational before the end of the year. The countries have also demonstrated technologies to launch and recover undersea vehicles from torpedo tubes.