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The United States needs to foster collaborative defence innovation and advance military interoperability with Australia and the United Kingdom, according to US Assistant Secretary of Defense for strategies, plans, and capabilities Mara Karlin.
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US Assistant Secretary Karlin made the comments during a discussion at Capitol Hill on 24 May in regard to US partnership with the UK and Australia to enhance national security.
The US must work to expand defence cooperation with its closest allies and partners as it competes against countries’ most consequential strategic competitor, China, she said.
“We need to widen the aperture, foster collaborative defence innovation, advance military interoperability with our allies and partners, and leverage our collective strengths as a force multiplier,” Karlin said.
“AUKUS has provided a lens into not only what military capabilities our closest allies need, but also what barriers exist that hamper pursuit of our integrated national security strategy and how we need to adapt our approach to meet our national security objectives.”
Development of new technologies, Karlin said, are critical to US defence and to the defence of AUKUS partners. The AUKUS partnership will create opportunities for cooperation that will advance the development and availability of those new technologies.
“The National Defense Strategy describes integrated deterrence as a holistic response to the strategies that our competitors are pursuing and directs the use of campaigning to gain military advantage,” Karlin said.
“It calls on the Department of Defense to build enduring advantages across the defence ecosystem to shore up our foundations for integrated deterrence and campaigning.
“What is needed now more than ever before is an approach that enhances our AUKUS partners’ conventional military capabilities, opens support to a more integrated defence industrial base, increases information sharing, and implements cooperative policies that reflect the concepts laid out in the national security strategy.
“What cannot be overstated is this: We cannot do this alone, and our AUKUS partners stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States, as they have for many decades.
“As President [Joe] Biden and Secretary Austin have said, AUKUS is a generational opportunity. Together with our AUKUS partners, we have identified several advanced capability opportunities in areas that range from artificial intelligence and quantum to hypersonics.
“Over time, the work we do will advance our own capabilities, as well as our partners’, and will enable us to address the challenges that we will collectively face.
The administration plans to consult with Congress on legislative changes that will allow increased exemptions to licensing requirements for AUKUS partners and make easier the transfer of both unclassified and classified defence articles and services, Karlin said.
“This bold approach is critical to ensuring the AUKUS partnership continues to innovate and to progress to meet the challenges of the global security environment,” she said.
