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Australia and the United States are moving up plans for a defence technology-sharing agreement, according to recent discussions at the Indo Pacific 2023 International Maritime Exposition.
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Government representatives from the US, Australia, and the United Kingdom laid out plans for the agreement during the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities (Pillar II): Industry Update with Senior Officials briefing hosted by the Department of Defence in Sydney on 7 November.
Under the plans, all three partner countries would share individual and shared development capabilities, as well as pass legislation to build a system of licence-free trade for companies and institutions to share classified and unclassified technology and work on shared projects.
That development would include AUKUS capabilities such as electronic warfare, counter-EW, hypersonic technology, cyber, undersea and other critical innovations to shape the strategic environment.
Australian government representatives described the initiative as an “expanded backyard with higher fences” where workforce and programs move smoothly between the three countries.
Mira Resnick, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, spoke at the briefing and described the exchange as a generational opportunity.
Relevant changes to US legislation are expected to be put to US Congress before December, she said.
She also warned that such important defence information flowing between the three countries could be targeted by adversaries “in ways never seen before”.
It’s understood there would also be a blacklist of non-transferable technology created, to restrict data such as chemical and biological information.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced legislation to enable sharing of military technology and weapon systems between Australia and the United States will likely be introduced by the end of the year.
“We’ll be introducing legislation by the end of the year is certainly our hope. We’re going through the process now through the cabinet process of developing that legislation,” he said.
“It’s about streamlining what is available for Australian information and technology-sharing arrangements with the United States consistent with the AUKUS arrangements. So, just as the United States Congress and Senate is dealing with half a dozen pieces of legislation, something that I’ve had discussions with US legislators on already while I’ve been here, we want to make sure that we’re in a position, as well, for those reciprocal arrangements.
“It’s a matter of having complementary legislation passed in both jurisdictions. At the moment, one of the impediments has been, in a practical sense, there for a long period of time.
“Where for Australia using some US defence technology, and it requires a path, to put it simply without going into any of the detail, often that couldn’t be given directly to the Australian Defence Force, it has to go through the US system. Sometimes meaning delays. And delays mean costs as well as inefficiency.”
