AUKUS Is Not Only the Now, It Is the Future

COMMENTARY: AUKUS Is Not Only the Now, It Is the Future

iStock illustration

As President Joe Biden said in October, the United States is at an inflection point. We are facing monumental shifts in geopolitics and security.

In this moment, it is critical that we build on the partnerships that we hold with our most longstanding allies. We may not know what the world will look like in the next 50 years, but what we do know is that by strengthening diplomacy, competitive advantage, innovation and collective capability, we can sustain and strengthen security and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Resilience is rooted in the country’s unwavering commitment to the sovereignty, safety and security of U.S. allies and partners across the globe. In today’s constantly changing geopolitical landscape, one way we enforce this commitment is by undertaking the generational opportunity presented by the Australia-United Kingdom-United States enhanced security partnership, better known as AUKUS.

This innovative partnership builds on a longstanding relationship with two of the nation’s greatest allies, demonstrating U.S. commitment to the advancement of a free and open Indo-Pacific. AUKUS is an opportunity for innovation, generational transformation and greater progress toward strengthening and reinvigorating U.S. alliances and partnerships.

AUKUS is a project for the future, but work has already begun. The three partners have taken steps to implement Pillar I, which supports Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. As noted in the Dec. 1 “AUKUS Defense Ministers Meeting Joint Statement,” the United States increased side-by-side training with its partners, including inviting Australian personnel to Pearl Harbor Navy Shipyard in Hawaii.

We are also educating current and future generations who will be working on the AUKUS initiative. For instance, Royal Australian Navy officers are already graduating from the U.S. naval nuclear power training pipeline. We remain committed to this implementation while setting the highest nuclear nonproliferation standard and strengthening the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

We are making progress on advanced capability collaboration. For example, we are developing common advanced artificial intelligence algorithms, which were demonstrated last year in the United Kingdom. The work saw the initial joint deployment of AI-enabled assets in a collaborative swarm to detect and track military targets in a representative environment in real time.

We are also working to strengthen uncrewed undersea capabilities by taking part in joint exercises in Australia last November to test new equipment that will increase the protection of critical underwater infrastructure.

These capabilities, coupled with continued advancement in areas like quantum and advanced cyber, are helping the three nations build the capabilities necessary to promote security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

To advance a trilateral enabling environment, the United States is streamlining its export control laws, regulations, policies and processes to achieve swift and secure defense trade.

While we take steps toward the future through cooperation on emerging technologies in Pillar II — focused on advanced capabilities — each partner remains committed to protecting sensitive technologies that are foundational to security.

With strong bipartisan backing from Congress, AUKUS is continuing to gain momentum. In the recent National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden, we are on track to enact a pathway for exempting Australia and the United Kingdom from a range of U.S. defense export control licensing requirements.

This is not the finish line — we recognize there is still more to be done and will continue to work together to institute swift and secure defense trade to deliver on leaders’ commitment to deeper integration of our scientists, industrial bases and supply chains.

The success of AUKUS not only aids in the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region but also strengthens deterrence and interoperability with key allies to face the security challenges of the future.

AUKUS is not about any one country, it is about working together with allies and partners across continents in mutually reinforcing ways to advance a positive, shared vision of the future. It is a vision rooted in partnership that will positively move us forward to greater peace, stability and security.

Over the past year, I have held conversations with diplomats, military leaders, scientists, academics and industry experts from each of the three nations, met with U.S. workers at shipyards in Virginia and spoken to students across the United States. Everyone is committed to delivering on the generational opportunity that AUKUS presents.

With current and future generations gearing up to lead the way with AUKUS, I know we are in good hands.

Our Australian partners call AUKUS a “whole-of-nation” project, and I wholeheartedly agree. It is going to take all of us to get the job done.

We are pulling talent from across this great nation, integrating the diversity that is required to encourage the innovation and ingenuity to complete this initiative.

It will bring together sailors, scientists and industries to showcase the best of American ingenuity and technology, along with that of our allies. AUKUS is not only the now, it is the future. ND

Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins is undersecretary of state for international security and arms control.

Topics: International