AUKUS Nations Signal Future Collaboration With Japan, 3 Other Nations
The U.S., Australia and the U.K. are exploring ways to incorporate Japan, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea into defense trade collaboration that was initially begun under the AUKUS partnership, they said in a joint statement this week.
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The AUKUS countries said they spoke earlier this year about “specific projects” where they could work together with other friendly nations (see 2404100066 and 2404090011). After those “initial consultations,” they said they began working with Japan on “opportunities to improve interoperability of their maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of cooperation.” They are also talking with Canada, New Zealand and South Korea to “identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II,” which aims to boost collaboration around sensitive defense technologies.
The AUKUS countries didn’t release more information about those possible partnerships or a timeline for officially beginning that collaboration. It’s unclear how a potential second Trump administration would handle AUKUS.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a Sept. 17 statement that “these efforts will continue in the years to come as we collaborate and invest in this historic partnership.”
The AUKUS nations also noted that they have put in place “momentous amendments to our respective export control regimes,” including reforms to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow the three countries to more easily share controlled defense technology (see 2408160019 and 2408220017).
“These critical reforms will facilitate billions of dollars in secure, license-free defense trade and maximize innovation across the full breadth of our defense collaboration and mutually strengthen our three defense industrial bases,” they said.