WASHINGTON — AUKUS Pillar II took center stage this month as the United States, United Kingdom and Australia concluded a naval exercise near San Diego that the Royal Navy described as the trio’s largest demonstration to date of uncrewed and autonomous technology.
During the event, known as Maritime Big Play, the partners trialed autonomous systems off the coast of California and folded them into fleet operations. Activities included tracking undersea threats and sharing data across platforms. The exercise coincided with efforts in the UK and across Europe to bolster maritime surveillance with autonomous tools amid rising regional security concerns.
The UK led the anti-submarine warfare segment, employing a mix of uncrewed surface vessels, underwater gliders, drones and subsea vehicles, according to a Royal Navy statement. That component emphasized pairing manned and unmanned assets for tracking and surveillance missions.
Organizers set out to showcase more than 40 technologies spanning crewed, uncrewed and what officials termed multi-domain autonomous systems, according to the same statement.
The Royal Navy did not detail the number or types of unmanned platforms involved. The US Navy said in a separate release that the overarching aim was to meet milestones for integrating mature robotics and autonomous systems into AUKUS coalition maritime operations.
The AUKUS security framework launched in 2021. Pillar I centers on delivering Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia by 2032, while Pillar II focuses on jointly developing and fielding advanced military capabilities.
“Maritime Big Play demonstrates the real, tangible progress we are making with our AUKUS partners to deliver cutting-edge autonomous capability at sea,” Second Sea Lord Vice Adm. Paul Beattie said. “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.”
AUKUS Pillar II and Europe’s surveillance push
European governments are broadening maritime surveillance investments, tailoring priorities to geography and threat perceptions. Those range from monitoring Russian activity in northern waters to tracking migration flows across the Mediterranean.
Countries are buying limited numbers of manned patrol platforms and pairing them with uncrewed aircraft, said Bryan Clark, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technologies. In the south, nations tend to field uncrewed aircraft alongside manned patrol ships to intercept migrants, while northern states are acquiring manned ASW patrol aircraft such as the P-8A Poseidon or Atlantique and coupling them with uncrewed aircraft like the MQ-9B SkyGuardian, he said.
Zak Schneider, a visiting fellow at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation in Warsaw, said maritime surveillance systems are vital for tracking Russia’s activities in the European theater. Sensors, ISR, intelligence and other data streams are essential to anticipate and respond to new maritime threats, he said, adding that surveillance depends on proliferating sensors and reconnaissance tools that can feed data into larger systems.
As European allies seek better tools to detect and track underwater threats, the AUKUS nations are advancing new sensor technologies for uncrewed platforms. To conclude Maritime Big Play, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that Britain will lead development of three advanced undersea sensor payloads for unmanned systems, slated to become available to the UK, Australia and the US in 2027 in support of the partnership.
The payloads include a synthetic aperture sonar, a deployable anti-submarine warfare sensor and a deployable non-kinetic effector. The systems are intended to conduct surveillance, gather undersea data and deploy sensors capable of detecting and classifying underwater threats, the ministry said.
“The UK is all in on AUKUS, and this cutting-edge technology shows why,” UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said. “By leading development of these sensor payloads, we’re putting British innovation at the heart of AUKUS and strengthening our collective undersea capability.”