AUKUS launches joint development of payloads for uncrewed undersea vehicles

AUKUS Pillar II names its first “Signature Project”: developing new payloads and enabling systems for partners’ uncrewed undersea vehicles, with deliveries starting in 2027. The novelty is the formal, trilateral program to field UUV payloads spanning seabed infrastructure protection, ISR/strike, logistics, mine countermeasures, EW, and contested littoral operations—signaling accelerated operationalization of undersea drones beyond experimentation.