The UK and US are launching a new defence partnership focused on artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, as the allies revealed they have fired a heavyweight torpedo from an uncrewed underwater vehicle for the first time.
The new AI and Autonomy partnership will bring together the Ministry of Defence’s Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce and its US counterpart, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, to accelerate the development of AI and autonomous defence capabilities.
The two organisations will work on systems designed to be interoperable across both countries, with an initial focus on protecting critical national infrastructure, including sea lanes and airspace. The government said the technology could improve threat detection and strengthen deterrence.
The government said the partnership will build on next-generation technology already being developed through AUKUS, the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the UK and US.
That work has now produced a significant milestone. During trials in UK waters last week, a 12-metre uncrewed underwater vehicle called Excalibur successfully launched a heavyweight torpedo jointly developed by the US and Australia.
Excalibur was built in Plymouth and is being used to test technologies that could eventually find their way into future British underwater systems. According to the government, the trial was the first time either the UK or US had fired a torpedo from an uncrewed underwater vessel rather than a crewed submarine.
The government said the demonstration represented an advance for NATO’s undersea capabilities and showed how technology developed by the three AUKUS partners could be brought together.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the partnership as he travelled to New York for the UN General Assembly, where AI, Ukraine and security in the Middle East are expected to feature prominently in talks with international leaders.
“That ambition is underlined in our new defence partnership with the United States on AI and autonomy, bringing together the brightest minds to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure, deter those who threaten our security, and use the enormous potential of AI to our advantage,” Burnham said.
The partnership reflects the growing role of AI and autonomy in UK defence planning, particularly in areas where militaries want to operate at greater scale without putting personnel directly in harm’s way.
For the UK, the Excalibur trial also offers something more concrete than another agreement to collaborate: evidence that autonomous systems being developed through AUKUS are beginning to move from research programmes into live weapons trials.
