Australia and the United States have successfully tested AUKUS Pillar II subsea and seabed warfare capabilities during an undersea warfare activity as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026 (RIMPAC 26) in July.
Taking place off the coast of Hawaii, RIMPAC 26 is the world’s largest international maritime exercise, involving 34 nations and more than 25,000 personnel.
The AUKUS Pillar II undersea activity at RIMPAC 26 brought together Australian and United States personnel from the Royal Australian Navy, Defence Science and Technology Group, and the United States Navy. Together, they were able to test and demonstrate Pillar II subsea and seabed warfare capabilities as part of mission scenarios focused on protecting critical undersea infrastructure.
Directorate of Undersea Warfare and Data Commander Paul Clark said RIMPAC demonstrated how AUKUS Pillar II was helping its partners work together to rapidly develop and integrate advanced capabilities.
“RIMPAC gives us a valuable opportunity to bring together people and capabilities in a real-world environment,” Commander Clark said.
“Continually testing these capabilities helps us better understand how they operate in challenging conditions. We are able to accelerate their development through collaboration with AUKUS partners.”
As part of the activity, United States Navy subsea capabilities were deployed and tested alongside Australia’s autonomous and remotely operated undersea vehicles from the Australian Defence Vessel Guidance. The vessel supports the testing and deployment of robotic and autonomous, crewed and uncrewed underwater systems, and undersea surveillance systems.
‘The ability for technologies and systems to operate together is fundamental to how we work alongside our partners in the future.’
Australia’s subsea capabilities included the Kongsberg HUGIN Superior autonomous underwater vehicle, which worked alongside the Schilling work-class remotely operated vehicle to conduct a complex navigation and search of a section of the undersea domain in the exercise area. This demonstrated how AUKUS partners are improving their ability to detect, deter and respond to maritime threats.
AUKUS partners also deployed Australia’s Lightfish Seasat uncrewed surface vessel and the Rock Lobster deployable underwater acoustic communication relay system, demonstrating interoperability between Australian and United States underwater acoustic communications technologies. Rock Lobster was developed by L3 Harris in collaboration with the Royal Australian Navy and Defence Science and Technology Group.
The development of these capabilities builds on previous testing undertaken through the Maritime Big Play exercise and experimentation series. Maritime Big Play enables AUKUS partners to accelerate interoperability between uncrewed capabilities operating in the maritime domain.
Discipline Lead Maritime Robotic and Autonomous Systems Communications Justin Dinale said interoperability remained a key focus of the activity.
“The ability for technologies and systems to operate together is fundamental to how we work alongside our partners in the future,” Mr Dinale said.
“RIMPAC allowed us to identify opportunities to improve our ability to communicate with our partners’ capabilities. We worked alongside our AUKUS and industry partners to increase the interoperability of our autonomous systems.”
The successful testing of capabilities at RIMPAC 26 strengthens Defence’s ability to protect its critical undersea infrastructure, and further advances the development and integration of undersea warfare capabilities across the partnership.
