AUKUS Pillar II is forging new industrial ties across the three partner nations to jointly develop next-generation warfighting capabilities across eight advanced technology areas.
Nova Systems CEO Dean Rosenfield said while there has been much focus on the scale of the Pillar I nuclear-powered submarines, Pillar II represents a significant opportunity and challenge for Australian industry to contribute to advanced technology and interoperability.
“AUKUS Pillar II presents a significant opportunity for Australian companies but is not without challenges,” Mr Rosenfield said.
“We need to ensure that the defence industrial bases of each AUKUS partner contribute to the trilateral defence capability needs and avoid unnecessary duplication and maximise cooperation.
“Industry has welcomed the Commonwealth’s release of the recent National Defence Strategy and subsequent reviews, as well as initiatives through the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA). There remains a clear need for a formalised process for Australian industry to partner with Defence to contribute on a tri-national level.
“We see there are immediate focus areas such as Digital Engineering and autonomous systems where Australia has specialist expertise and capability.
“In addition, Nova’s core capability of Test & Evaluation (T&E), Certification and Systems Assurance which has been identified as one of the Commonwealth’s seven Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIPs). It’s arguably the most important as it runs across all others to ensure capabilities are viable and safe.
“Advancing these capabilities is critical to being able to deliver AUKUS Pillar II ambitions. Achieving ‘minimum viable capability,’ and at pace, requires sufficient T&E, particularly a focus on testing early during the development process to identify and mitigate any deficiencies.
“Digital Engineering capabilities enhance this by allowing experimentation that couldn’t happen in real-life test scenarios.”
Nova Systems is hosting a panel at Land Forces on Wednesday 11 September which will analyse AUKUS Pillar II with a land focus; where are we now, what are the specific opportunities for Australian industry to provide much-needed capabilities.
Panelists include Nova Systems CEO Dean Rosenfield, ASCA Head Prof Emily Hilder and Acacia Systems CEO Bob Humphreys.
In support, Nova Systems has also published a Discussion Paper on AUKUS Pillar II. Read it below.