Strengthening the Future of the AUKUS Partnership

New threats and domains for warfare continually emerge. These include cyber and space along with disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum. Dealing with these threats necessitates an enhanced partnership across governments and within industry.

Achieving full mission readiness is becoming increasingly complex and requires dynamic defence technology solutions. Securing and protecting people, nations, and information is impacted by a multitude of challenges including COVID-19, climate change, and an increasingly hostile edge to global strategic competition.

On 15 September 2021, the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (U.S.) jointly announced the AUKUS partnership. They resolved to “deepen diplomatic, security, and defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

Many would identify these three nations as partners in the strongest interstate alliances in existence today. The creation of AUKUS to help equip Australia with nuclear powered submarines and other technological upgrades should increase the already strong foundations that Australia, United Kingdom, and United States share.

This new report addresses how best to collaborate across government and industry among the three AUKUS nations—Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—in order to implement this historically important security agreement effectively. The authors focus specifically on how AUKUS stakeholders can leverage technology and innovation, from cloud computing and cybersecurity to artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to establish a sustainable and enduring strategy that enhances security, especially across the Indo-Pacific region.

The authors’ work complements our Center’s ongoing focus on how best to manage major global initiatives that promote security interests across nations. This includes our recent series of reports on visualizing information operations in defense settings with the Institute for the Study of War, as well as two recent reports on how Australian agencies are providing a model for other nations on how AI and emerging technologies can be implemented in a way that builds public trust.

We hope that AUKUS leaders and stakeholders find this report helpful in framing innovation that drives the path forward for implementing this vital partnership.