United Kingdom, Australia, and United States to develop underwater drones in new defence pact
The AUKUS nations are teaming up in a bid to curve the rising threat to submerged cables and pipelines.
There is a huge amount of infrastructure that lies at the bottom of the ocean, be these submerged cables or underwater pipelines, which connect and fuel nations around the world. As more and more realise how important these are becoming, the threat level against them has been elevating, which is why the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States have come together to form a defence pact to create underwater drones to help defend these important pieces of infrastructure.
The AUKUS nations (Australia-UK-US) have agreed upon this deal after meeting in Singapore on May 30, with plans to accelerate the development of such cutting-edge technology to help defend important locations in oceans and seas around the world, as per Sky News.
The deal will also see Australia acquiring a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines that will be tasked with patrolling the Pacific Ocean in a bid to counter and slow China's expansion into the area. The agreement will also see the trio collaborating on quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, AI, and cyber technologies too.
Speaking about the deal, US Defence Secretary Peter Hegseth stated: "The signature project will deliver a suite of highly adaptable multi-mission UUV (uncrewed underwater vehicle) payloads designed to support undersea operations and maintain our collective advantage in the maritime domain."
The AUKUS collaboration was founded in 2021 in a bid to counter China's expansion, with the Asian nation regarding the pact as dangerous and capable of causing an arms race.
