As artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy reshape the modern battlefield, a new brief from the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney argues that Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States should prioritise these domains at a critical growth stage for AUKUS Pillar II.
In Impact and effort: A menu of AI and autonomy options for AUKUS Pillar II, Non-Resident Fellow Sophie Mayo explores options for advancing AI and autonomous (unmanned) capability development through AUKUS Pillar II to meet the most urgent operational challenges confronting the three partners in the Indo-Pacific.
“In order to compete with China’s ever-growing and increasingly sophisticated military capabilities, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States should prioritise the development and introduction of AI and autonomy solutions with high technology readiness levels” Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Dr Lavina Lee said.
The brief says that an AUKUS Pillar II version of the US Replicator initiative, which is designed to deliver thousands of unmanned systems, could offer quick wins when it comes to matching China’s numerical advantages. The brief also recommends aligning AUKUS Pillar II work on command and control with the US Indo-Pacific Command’s (INDOPACOM) Joint Fires Network, which uses AI to aggregate battlefield data across multiple platforms in all domains, and prioritising combating threats to allied logistics networks for supply, maintenance and sustainment in the region.
“Nuclear-powered submarines might be a longer-term goal, but AI and autonomy are two areas where AUKUS Pillar II could make a significant operational difference for all three countries in the short term” Dr Lee concluded.
- Impact and effort: A menu of AI and autonomy options for AUKUS Pillar II is now available to view or download.
Key recommendations for Australian policymakers
To progress a menu of high impact, reduced effort AI and autonomy options for Pillar II, the AUKUS partners should:
- Compliment US Replicator initiative with a similar AUKUS Pillar II effort
- Examine how AUKUS Pillar II cold be useful to INDOPACOM’s Joint Fires Network
- Prioritise ‘contested logistics’ as an upcoming challenge competition area