"For too long on AUKUS we have talked too much and delivered too little," British Defence Secretary John Healey told delegates at the Shangri‑La Dialogue on 30 May, announcing a first "signature project" under AUKUS Pillar Two: shared payloads for uncrewed undersea vehicles (UUVs).
30 May announcement at the Shangri‑La Dialogue
The three AUKUS partners — Australia, Britain and the United States — unveiled the Pillar Two signature project on 30 May at the Shangri‑La Dialogue. The announcement marks a stated transition from research and experimentation to an effort to deliver operational capability by an announced target year of 2027. The source describing the project calls meeting that target "a big if," signalling caution about the timeline.
The Pillar Two signature project: UUV payloads, not new hulls
The declared focus is on payloads for UUVs rather than designing entirely new uncrewed submarines. Each partner already has UUV programs — the source cites the Anduril Ghost Shark and C2 Robotics Speartooth as examples — but the new work aims to produce shared technologies that let those craft "navigate, detect and attack" together, and to ensure they can be integrated into common command-and-control networks.
Australia’s stated concern: seabed infrastructure and submarine cables
Australia’s deputy prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, warned at Shangri‑La that the seabed had become a "strategic target." The article’s author explicitly links that phrase to China and Russia. Marles highlighted that Australia must defend fifteen submarine cables that carry almost all of the country’s internet traffic, and noted that some smaller Pacific nations rely on just one cable. The partners present their work as aimed at identifying threats and delivering capabilities to "detect, deter and deal with" attacks or interference with subsea critical infrastructure.
Enablers: sensors, weapons, and resilient connectivity
The payloads project will prioritise sensors, weapons and the resilient connections required to integrate UUVs into human-directed networks. The Australian Strategic Capabilities Accelerator's Maritime Big Play exercise earlier this year tested technologies needed for that integration; the article expects testing to accelerate following the Shangri‑La announcement so UUVs can link with networks ashore and be overseen or directly controlled by humans.
- Sensor possibilities listed in the source include passive and active sonars, optical periscopes for near-surface imagery, and radio sensors to detect communications and radars.
- Weapon payloads mentioned include mines and torpedoes, which the source specifies would be used only under human control "consistent with Australia’s obligations under international humanitarian law."
- Communications enablers discussed range from resilient satellite networks that route via nodes in aircraft or surface vessels, to laser communications that can reach crewed or uncrewed submarines down to around 70 metres, and the potential of quantum communications technologies — the latter noted as also a Pillar Two focus.
What this means for Australia, Britain and the United States
- Australia: will seek to patrol and protect its fifteen submarine cables and seabed infrastructure using swarms of uncrewed autonomous vessels, freeing crewed submarines to operate forward in maritime approaches and beyond. The country has already signalled intent by pursuing acquisition of Ghost Shark UUVs and by testing through the Australian Strategic Capabilities Accelerator.
- Britain: will participate in developing interoperable payloads and networks to improve trilateral undersea warfare cooperation, responding to the call to move from talk to delivery, as John Healey framed it at Shangri‑La.
- United States: as a Pillar Two partner, will collaborate on shared payloads and enabling technologies — including communications nodes and quantum technologies — that are intended to allow UUVs from the three countries to "work together" in protecting undersea infrastructure and countering undersea threats.
The partners frame Pillar Two’s first signature project as a concrete step to make "us more secure under the sea, keep us resilient on land and future proof the partnership." The announcement followed defence ministers' talks at Shangri‑La and comes amid regional calls for collective deterrence rather than inaction — a point underscored by Philippines Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro's appeal for "more convergence partners for deterrence." Whether the partners can translate shared technologies into interoperable, fielded capability by the announced 2027 target remains the central operational question the announcement puts on the table.
