The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom — members of the AUKUS partnership — are considering cooperation with Japan on advanced capabilities projects.
Japan is being considered because of its strengths and its close defence partnership with all three countries.
The three partners are considering cooperation with Japan on advanced capabilities and technologies across a range of areas including quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology.
China has called the AUKUS pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race.
What is AUKUS alliance?
• In September 2021, the US, UK and Australia announced a new trilateral security alliance for the Indo-Pacific to take on the threats of the 21st century and allow for greater sharing of defence capabilities.
• Maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific serves as the key factor driving the selection of advanced capabilities to pursue as part of the AUKUS security partnership between the three countries.
• The partnership was agreed to by kicking off a multi-phased approach to fostering technology exchanges among the three countries and building Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine force.
• Under the plan’s first pillar, Australia will purchase three Virginia-class, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines in time to replace its current fleet of diesel electric submarines in the 2030s.
• The three countries will also develop a state-of-the-art platform designed to combine and leverage their shared submarine technology. The ‘SSN-AUKUS’, as the future platform is known, is slated to be fielded by the UK in the 2030s and by Australia in the 2040s.
• The second pillar of the agreement is focused on developing joint capabilities to further enhance interoperability among the participating nations with a focus on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and additional undersea capabilities.
• As the US, UK and Australia further define their technology requirements under the second pillar, they remain laser focused on selecting technology that is relevant to all three nations while maintaining a focus on the Indo-Pacific.
• Recognising Japan’s strengths and the close bilateral defence partnerships with the AUKUS countries, the partners are considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS pillar 2 advanced capability projects.
• Expanding AUKUS pillar 2, to include additional partners, has been a consideration from the start and the three countries look forward to further discussions with Japan on how they might cooperate on particular projects.
• In addition to exploring Japan’s potential cooperation in the AUKUS partnership, US President Joe Biden announced that the US, Japan and Australia will partner in creating a networked air defence architecture.
• The US and UK will also be conducting trilateral military exercises with Japan.
