The U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom are conducting a maritime demonstration off the coast of Southern California to test military interoperability as part of the AUKUS trilateral partnership, according to the Department of War.
The Maritime Big Play Pacific demonstration runs from October 5 to October 26 and showcases more than 40 government and industry technologies from all three countries, including multidomain autonomous, crewed and uncrewed systems. The exercise is part of a series of integrated experiments aimed at enhancing capability development and testing the ability to jointly operate uncrewed maritime systems, share maritime data, and provide real-time maritime domain awareness.
Michael Dodd, the assistant secretary of war for critical technologies, said the demonstration enhances interoperability among the three nations and strengthens relationships while building deterrence. Participants are evaluating autonomous system scenarios across multiple operational domains, from seafloor to space, Dodd said.
The AUKUS agreement, announced in 2021, comprises two pillars. The first pillar involves delivering conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, with three U.S. submarines scheduled for delivery in the 2030s. The three nations are also developing a next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarine platform called SSN-AUKUS, expected to be operational for the U.K. in the 2030s and Australia in the 2040s.
The second pillar, which includes Maritime Big Play Pacific, focuses on developing advanced capabilities through co-development and coproduction, integrating multinational capabilities as a force multiplier, and testing solutions for Pacific deployment. In May, the AUKUS partners announced the first signature project under the second pillar, involving cutting-edge payloads and enabling systems for uncrewed undersea vehicles. This project will enable the partners to coordinate on seabed infrastructure protection, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, logistics operations, and specialized warfare capabilities including antisubmarine and anti-surface operations, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare, and coastal maneuvers.