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.
(L-R) Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong join US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin take part in a ceremony at the start of the 2024 Australia-US Ministerial Consultations at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, August 6, 2024. (Photo by DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images)
Security fencing set up outside the Washington convention center where the NATO summit will be taking place in Washington, DC, from July 9th to the 11th. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Leading up to this week's NATO summit in Washington, senior U.S. officials previewed leaders’ schedules and reflected on the historical context of this gathering.