What Happened
Maritime Surveillance Needs Drive European Investment
The US, United Kingdom, and Australia have completed a naval exercise demonstrating the largest-ever use of uncrewed and autonomous technology in support of AUKUS Pillar II. The Maritime Big Play exercise tested autonomous systems off the coast of San Diego, integrating them into maritime operations, including tracking underwater threats and sharing data across platforms. The exercise comes as European countries look to expand their maritime surveillance capabilities with autonomous systems amid growing security concerns. The UK’s Ministry of Defence also announced plans to develop advanced undersea sensor payloads for unmanned systems, which will become available to the AUKUS partners in 2027. This development was first reported by Breaking Defense.