Australia, the UK, the US (AUKUS) and Japan tested their ability to communicate with underwater autonomous systems during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
The multinational, binennial Talisman Sabre exercise comprises 19 participant nations in this year’s 11th iteration. However, this particular underwater acoustic test comes under AUKUS Pillar II’s Maritime Big Play series.
Maritime Big Play is an AUKUS Pillar II exercise series to enable the three AUKUS allies to rapidly test and integrate autonomous systems with conventional platforms, equipping each of them to deter and deny threats above and under the water.
The Royal Navy has espoused the concept in its pervasive Atlantic Bastion policy where network-centric, disaggregated assets are deployed from hybrid carrier airwings.
Previously, the trio tested 30 autonomous platforms with the Royal Navy’s Strike Net system, which enables remote control of equipment across the three nations’ navies.
More recently, the Royal Navy deployed tube-launched uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) from its nuclear-powered attack Astute-class submarines under Project Scylla in the Mediterranean, also delivered under AUKUS Pillar II.
The integration of autonomy and increased interoperability gives allied commanders more options to protect and defend critical seabed infrastructure and sea lanes of communication, which has become a persistent issue in adversarial ‘grey-zone’ warfare, the dubious place between peace and war.
These combined efforts will help to coordinate an allied response to such offensive effects.
China displays uncrewed systems
Overlapping with this instance of allied defence cooperation in autonomy, China’s Ministry of National Defense also announced an event showcasing the nation’s latest uncrewed air systems (UAS), loitering munitions, and counter uncrewed land combat systems (C-UAS).
The event was divided into a dynamic performance and a static display. The dynamic part displayed aerial 'offensive and defensive' operations such as reconnaissance, informed planning, penetration, and attack.
The exhibition area displayed various UAS and C-UAS, including wheeled gunnery with an uncrewed turret that can automatically load and fire, as well as a tank with an onboard UAS system and radio jamming system.
