Navy teams from the U.K. and Australia have joined those of the U.S. in San Diego, California to practise working together with uncrewed systems.
The month-long AUKUS Pillar II Maritime Big Play (MBP) Pacific demonstration in southern California is now coming to a close.
In the largest yet example of its kind, this MGP iteration has seen a focus on four core areas: anti-submarine warfare; lethality; contested resupply; and subsea warfare.
The U.K. has led the ASW activities, combining assets including uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), and uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), some of which were gliders.
Second Sea Lord Vice-Admiral Paul Beattie has been attending MGP, alongside Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on AUKUS.
V.Adm. Beattie said: “Maritime Big Play demonstrates the real, tangible progress we are making with our AUKUS partners to deliver cutting-edge autonomous capability at sea.
“This is about more than technology on display, it’s about proving that our forces can operate together seamlessly, sharing data and combining assets to stay ahead of future threats.
“The Royal Navy is proud to lead the way on anti-submarine warfare within this partnership, and I look forward to seeing how this collaboration continues to grow in the months ahead.”
The MGP programme has been running for three years; other recent collaborations have involved launching a U.S. torpedo from the Royal Navy’s XV Excalibur XLUUV.
Operations this month have built on earlier work on underwater communications conducted during both the U.S.-led RIMPAC exercise off Hawaii in the summer, as well as the recently concluded REPMUS exercise in Portugal. They have involved more than 40 government and industry technologies from all three partner nations.
- You can read more details on the Royal Navy website
