AUKUS partners to develop UUVs with deliveries starting next year

June 2, 2026, by Fatima Bahtić

Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have announced the first AUKUS Pillar II signature project focused on advanced payloads and enabling systems for uncrewed undersea vehicles (UUVs), with deliveries set to begin in 2027.

The AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project will deliver UUV payloads and enabling systems that can be used across each country’s UUVs. The AUKUS Pillar II signature project will:

Enable AUKUS partners to work together to protect critical national seabed infrastructure, deploy cutting‑edge surveillance, reconnaissance and strike capabilities, logistics operations and bolster superiority in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare and contested littoral manoeuvre.
Increase AUKUS interoperability through key enablers, including shared standards, trilateral operational concepts, and common control systems.
Develop and prove capabilities through trilateral exercises and experimentation, by harnessing shared resourcing and the best of our research and development communities to drive innovation.

Furthermore, the signature project will reinforce our collective deterrence efforts and superiority in the maritime domain through the accelerated delivery of advanced capabilities to our warfighters.

Then AUKUS partners will jointly develop and produce trilateral payloads and enabling technologies, including next-generation payloads.

The officials noted that the project strengthens existing AUKUS initiatives under Pillars I and II, and bolsters the shared commitment of AUKUS partners to regional stability, security and freedom of navigation.

UUV concept

Uncrewed and undersea warfare capabilities are a force multiplier for crewed platforms and enhance the agility, asymmetry and survivability of our warfighters, according to the AUKUS partners.

UUVs can work alongside crewed ships and submarines, including to:

provide surveillance of large ocean areas,
protect underwater infrastructure,
support naval operations.

Payloads are the mission-specific systems carried by a vehicle to perform its role, including equipment such as sensors, navigation tools, or combat-related capabilities.

Enabling systems are the supporting technologies that allow uncrewed undersea vehicles to operate effectively, including those that enable communication, data sharing, and coordination with both crewed and uncrewed platforms.

To recap, AUKUS partners recently confirmed a revised arrangement under which Australia will acquire used nuclear-powered submarines from the United States, replacing an earlier plan that included a combination of new-build and in-service vessels, as Canberra moves to develop its first conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability.