Aukus nations to develop payloads for uncrewed undersea vehicles
The United States, Australia, and Britain are collaborating to develop advanced payloads for uncrewed undersea vehicles under their trilateral security partnership, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced on Saturday.
As reported by Agence France-Presse, Hegseth met with his Australian and British counterparts on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where they reviewed progress on the pact aimed at strengthening their presence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
“Today, we’re pleased to announce the first AUKUS Pillar 2 signature project, focused on fielding advanced uncrewed undersea vehicles, or UUVs,” Hegseth told reporters at a briefing at the US embassy in Singapore.
“This signature project will deliver a suite of highly adaptable multi-mission UUV payloads designed to support undersea operations and maintain our collective advantage in the maritime domain.”
Aukus’s Pillar 1 focuses on Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines, while Pillar 2 combines the expertise of each nation’s defence sector to develop advanced military capabilities.
The pact is framed as supporting a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” though it is widely viewed as a strategic measure against a rising China, which strongly opposes it.
Australia to receive only second-hand Virginia-class submarines under AUKUS
Australia will no longer receive any new Virginia-class submarines from the US; all three submarines under AUKUS will be second-hand vessels.
Defence Minister Richard Marles welcomed the new proposal alongside his US and UK counterparts yesterday.
Previously, Australia had expected to receive a mix of old and new Virginia-class submarines for its own use in the early 2030s as it prepares to adopt nuclear-powered submarines.
Marles announced the change in a joint statement on Saturday, which read:
“The Deputy Prime Minister and Secretaries welcomed the proposed approach to streamline Australia’s acquisition of Virginia-class submarines (VCS), simplifying supply chain management, operational and maintenance requirements, and maximising cost efficiencies.
This approach would enable Australia to acquire three in-service VCS in lieu of a mixture of new and in-service VCS variants.”
US shipyards have been under pressure as they strive to increase manufacturing to meet their goal of building an average of 2.3 new submarines per year by 2032.
You can about Marles’ speech here:
Pauline Hanson says she could be prime minister
Pauline Hanson told she is actively considering moving to the lower house at the next election and that she could undertake the role of prime minister.
Hanson said a move back to the lower house, where she was first elected in 1996, is “a consideration by all means.”
One Nation has been surging in opinion polls, attracting support of more than 20%. The next election is expected in early 2028.
“But I am not making a decision now and I’m not going to tell anyone what I’m doing at this moment, because I haven’t clearly made up my mind,” Hanson said.
When asked if she wants to become prime minister, Hanson responded that she “won’t knock the job.”
“I believe that I have the ability to do it. I’m not going to underestimate myself or say ‘no, I can’t do it’, because you know, have a look at what we’ve got now, really honestly, and that’s why we’re in a mess.”
Hanson backs Taylor’s tax indexation plan
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has expressed support for Angus Taylor’s plans to index Australia’s tax thresholds, telling “they just keep moving all the time.”
Hanson said she intends to review tax policy ahead of the next election, proposing an “overhaul” to “make it a fairer system.”
“Those people who work overtime do their 40 hours a week or 38 hours a week, they’re working overtime, they’re taxed to the hilt, and I think we need to overhaul the whole taxation system.”
Taylor’s plan is designed to combat bracket creep and will cost at least $22.5 billion.
Hanson admitted she is not fully informed on the details of Labor’s plans regarding negative gearing, capital gains tax, and trusts, noting she has been campaigning this week. Labor has already introduced legislation for the budget changes.
She expressed concern that the government is including tax cuts in the legislation, calling it “a ploy by the Labor party” to wedge the opposition and minor parties.
Continuing the report from Agence France-Presse, British Defence Secretary John Healey said the planned technology, a “range of cutting edge sensors and weapons systems” for undersea drones, “will rapidly give our forces the very most advanced battlefield technologies.”
The systems will be deployed on uncrewed underwater vessels, Healey added.
The protection of underwater infrastructure has been a major topic of discussion at Asia’s premier annual defence summit held at a Singapore hotel.
“The seabed has become a major field of contest over the past 18 months,” Australia’s Defence Minister, Richard Marles, told delegates earlier.
“We have witnessed a series of attacks against subsea critical infrastructure at a scale and frequency that is historically unprecedented.”
There have been several incidents in the past two years of seabed cables being damaged by ships, both in the Baltic and around the Asian region.
Nearly all of Australia’s internet traffic flows through just 15 subsea cables, Canberra’s top diplomat pointed out.
“Our ability to operate as a modern economy and a functioning state, all of it is critically dependent on infrastructure that is exposed, that cannot move.
As we’ve now seen demonstrated in the Baltic, [it] can be cut with an anchor in the middle of the night.”
You can about Marles’s warning here, from reporter Ben Doherty:
Good morning
Hello, this is Luca Ittimani here, to take you through the day’s news as it unfolds on what is so far a sunny Sunday morning – in Sydney, at least.
Richard Marles has described the “seabed as a battlefield” as a new Aukus project was announced to protect undersea cables.
Clare O’Neil will be speaking on the ABC’s Insiders program shortly, discussing Labor’s recent changes to the capital gains tax.
We will have more updates coming up – stay tuned.
