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The success or failure of the AUKUS agreement ultimately depends on the reliable and secure transfer of knowledge and technology between the partners, with the legislative frameworks and bureaucratic mechanisms like the AUKUS Trade Authorization Mechanism (ATAM) critical to this.
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The rubber is now hitting the road as Australia, the United Kingdom, and United States set about establishing the frameworks and bureaucratic mechanisms essential to the successful delivery of Australia’s fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and the follow-on capabilities identified in Pillar 2.
With much of the bureaucratic burden on the US side of the trilateral partnership, the US has rapidly set about overhauling and streamlining the established mechanisms and bodies responsible for the transfer of defence technology, capabilities, and materiel.
Central to this is the AUKUS Trade Authorization Mechanism (ATAM) which has been designed to expedite and facilitate the trade of US defence technologies and services between the three partner nations and to support the delivery of “both Pillar I (providing Australia with a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability) and Pillar II (advanced capabilities)”.
While described as an “interim measure”, the changes are designed to streamline defence trade between the US, particularly for critical US capability as more meaningful and long-term legislative changes are developed and implemented.
Critically, according to the US State Department, ATAM will, “provide a consistent framework that will cover direct commercial sales (private sector-to-government or private sector-to-private sector transfers) as well as some items that were previously sold as foreign military sales (government-to-government agreements) but may be handled as DCS under ATAM. This mechanism relies on existing authorities, both to increase the speed and efficiency of defence trade while doing so in a way that is familiar, and therefore easier, for US exporters”.
This was implemented in order to address longstanding concerns over the speed and efficiency of the foreign military sales (FMS) and direct commercial sales (DCS) as a result of the expected increases in AUKUS-related defence trade between the three nations.
In order to support this, the US will implement three steps to support the implementation of the ATAM:
- Identify the scope of AUKUS programs. This will optimise operations and compliance, as both government and industry will have a clear understanding of which uses/programs are authorised under ATAM.
- Identify what technologies are not eligible under ATAM.
- Identify which communities in each country would be approved for access to the technology, which includes an obligation to record what is transferred and to secure and protect the technology. This will help reduce the likelihood of unauthorised diversion of sensitive defence technologies and, if necessary, help to investigate any potential diversion.
These changes will support the utilisation of ATAM, requiring:
- The exporter must check proposed transfers under AUKUS against these three basic and transparent criteria (programs, technologies, and authorised communities) that Defence and state would develop, and review with partners.
- Transfers beyond the UK or Australia, or transfer to a non-AUKUS program or a community not eligible to receive it, would require standard non-ATAM authorisation.
- Based on legislation, the US government would need to notify shipments under this authorisation exceeding US$100 million at least 15 days prior to the shipment. Existing systems will be utilised to conduct congressional notification.
Additionally, ATAM will allow for DCS transfers between the partners to occur for items typically only transferred under FMS guidelines. ATAM will also allow for the immediate solution to expedite and secure defence transfers of US defence items for AUKUS projects, while leveraging existing mechanisms (namely ITAR) increasing the speedy transfer of critical defence trade.
