The U.K. will lead development of three sets of payloads for uncrewed systems operated by the AUKUS nations, the Government has pledged.
The announcement came at the close of the latest month-long Maritime Big Play (MBP) serials, staged in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego in southern California as part of the AUKUS Pillar II framework.
The U.K. led the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) strand of the trials, bringing 13 uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), two ASW targets and four underwater gliders from six industry partners.
As per a U.K.Government statement, Britain will be taking the lead on developing two types of sensors from the allies’ uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs): a Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS), and a deployable ASW sensor.
Moving beyond just detection, the U.K. will also lead development of what has been described as “a deployable non-kinetic effector.”
The statement noted: “These capabilities will collect detailed underwater information, deploy sensors to detect and classify underwater threats, and generate underwater effects. The payloads will help UUVs provide surveillance of large ocean areas and protect underwater infrastructure.”
And it pledged: “The payloads will be available across the three nations’ UUV fleets from 2027.”
Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on AUKUS, said: “The U.K. is now stepping forward to lead development of three of the most advanced undersea sensor payloads any of our three nations have fielded, sharpening our collective edge and reinforcing security across the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific.”
And Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard added: “The UK is all in on AUKUS, and this cutting-edge technology shows why. By leading development of these sensor payloads, we’re putting British innovation at the heart of AUKUS and strengthening our collective undersea capability.”
Among 12 U.K. industries at MBP were two of the four U.K .winners from the AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge: SEA Ltd, based in Frome, and Decision Analysis Services Ltd, based in Basingstoke.
These two firms (along with Dorchester-based A2i and U.S. company MSI Transducers) won a share in £3 million of funding to develop command and control (C2) of multiple undersea systems.
- You can read more details on the U.K. Government website
