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A senior DOD adviser has been appointed to support Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreement.
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has named Abraham Denmark as the senior adviser on matters relating to the AUKUS technology sharing agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Denmark has been tasked with ensuring DOD representatives “move rapidly” in delivering advanced defence capabilities, including the provision of technology and training in support of the Royal Australian Navy’s future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
Other touted capabilities include hypersonics, quantum technology, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and electronic warfare.
Denmark currently serves as vice president of programs at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, and has previously served in the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia.
“In his new role he will help move forward one of America’s most important partnerships in the Indo-Pacific,” acting Pentagon press secretary Todd Breasseale said.
Dr. James N Miller will continue to serve as the US coordinator for AUKUS at the National Security Council.
The appointment comes just a week after Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell, AO, DSC has met with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, and Commander, US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Chris Aquilino at the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense (CHODS) conference in Sydney.
The progress of the AUKUS agreement was among the topics discussed amid mounting security threats in the region.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles also recently met with Secretary Austin in the United States for high-level talks.
According to Minister Marles, the government’s first priority is to advance the delivery of capability promised under AUKUS.
“For a three-ocean nation, the heart of deterrence is undersea capability. AUKUS will not only make Australia safer, it will make Australia a more potent and capable partner,” he said.
“That the United States and the United Kingdom have agreed to work with Australia to meet our needs is not only a game changer, it illustrates why alliances help reinforce, not undermine, our country’s national sovereignty.”
Underpinning this approach, would be a push to “integrate technology and industrial bases”, with Australia’s inclusion in the US National Technology and Industrial Base a “vital first step”.
[Related: US General flags ‘several-fold’ increase in Chinese military aggression]
