Login
iscover
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has used a statement recognising the two-year anniversary of the AUKUS announcement to reinforce the importance of the “once in a generation” collaboration between the three partner nations.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Secretary Austin highlighted the rapid progress being made by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia in just two years since the announcement of the trilateral partnership between the nations.
“I am incredibly proud of the tireless work of this department and our UK and Australian counterparts, and I am confident in the bright future of our historic partnership. Working together over these past two years, we have accelerated efforts toward our common goals faster than anyone would have thought possible,” Secretary Austin said.
As part of the progress made, Secretary Austin highlighted the graduation of Australia’s first officers graduating from US Nuclear Power School alongside America’s most promising sailors.
This milestone achievement comes following increased rotations of US Navy nuclear-powered submarines as part of helping to support and enhance Australia’s in-country capacity to operate, support, and maintain a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
Secretary Austin also used the statement to highlight the growing levels of collaboration between the defence industrial bases of each of the partner nations and the progress made on AUKUS Pillar 2 priorities, namely artificial intelligence.
“We recently demonstrated the trilateral deployment of artificial intelligence-enabled assets, we proved that AUKUS can deliver on combined advanced capabilities,” Austin said.
“AUKUS is breaking down barriers to strengthen cooperation among the UK and Australia and their defence industries. With continued support from our US interagency colleagues and Congress, I am confident that we will be able to realise the full potential of this groundbreaking partnership,” Secretary Austin explained.
