ATLANTIC OCEAN (Dec, 6, 2024) – A Mission Specialist Defender Mark IV remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) transits the Atlantic Ocean submerged during the Australia, United Kingdom and U.S. (AUKUS) Pillar II Subsea and Seabed Warfare Event Two/Integrated Battle Problem 25.1. During the event, U.S. Navy, Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy personnel launched, tested and provided demonstrations for several unmanned underwater vehicles, to include the Mission Specialist Defender Mark IV remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and the IVER4 900 autonomous-underwater vehicle. The AUKUS Advanced Capabilities line of effort – known as Pillar II – is a seminal strategic partnership and technology accelerator for the three AUKUS nations to harness and uplift innovation enterprises and industrial bases, remove barriers to cooperation, and deliver advanced capabilities for AUKUS warfighters. (Image produced utilizing a screen capture from video.) (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Justin E. Yarborough)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 20: U.S. President Donald Trump calls on reporters during a meeting with Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese (L), Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles during a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Albanese is visiting the U.S. Capital to meet with President Trump and later visit the Pentagon. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Wallops Island, Virginia, Oct. 21, 2021. U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs and the Army Hypersonic Program Office successfully conducted a High Operational Tempo for Hypersonics flight campaign. This test informed the development of the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike and the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon offensive hypersonic strike capability. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released)
Under the Hypersonic Flight Test and Experimentation (HyFliTE) project arrangement, the three AUKUS nations will conduct up to six flight test campaigns by 2028.
Australian Army Sgt. Jake Fauser briefs U.S. Australian and Japanese defense leaders ahead of the Trilateral Defense Ministers’ Meeting (TDMM) in Darwin, Australia, Nov. 17, 2024. (Photo by Brandi Vincent)
Leaders from the three nations detailed their latest cooperation agenda in a press briefing following the fourteenth Trilateral Defense Ministers’ Meeting.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his U.K. and Australian counterparts host a press conference in London at the third AUKUS ministerial meetings, Sept. 26, 2024. (Photo by Brandi Vincent)
John Healey MP, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom hosts Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Australia and Lloyd Austin Secretary of Defense, United States (U.S.) at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London, the United Kingdom (UK) to review progress in and reaffirm their commitment to the AUKUS partnership, Sept. 26, 2024. (Photo by Brandi Vincent)
DIU, Australia’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator and the United Kingdom’s Defence and Security Accelerator collectively launched this EW challenge in March as part of AUKUS Pillar 2.
Defense leaders from the U.S., U.K., and Australia are gathering in London on Thursday to participate in the trilateral security partnership’s ministerial meetings.