AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project
The first AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project, announced 30 May 2026, focuses on developing payloads and enabling systems for uncrewed underwater vehicles with hardware deliveries beginning in 2027.
The AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project, the trilateral undersea-vehicle programme signed on 30 May 2026 naming only US-built platforms, drew a European counter-bid from Kongsberg and DRASS on 8 June and its first UK platforms a month later.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What does it mean that the AUKUS UUV project names only American robots at launch?
Timeline for AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project
Named as the programme developing weapons for Type 91 and Type 93
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Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaEstablished as the first AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project with 2027 hardware delivery target
Autonomous Systems: Land & Sea: AUKUS names two American sea robotsBackground
The AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project is the first initiative to carry the top-tier 'Signature Project' designation under the advanced-capabilities pillar of the AUKUS partnership, signed by US, UK and Australian defence ministers at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on 30 May 2026. Its four-mission REMIT runs from hunting mines and tracking submarines through to guarding seabed cables and pipelines and operating in contested coastal waters, funding the payloads and enabling systems that let uncrewed underwater vehicles do that work, with hardware due from 2027.
No programme budget has been disclosed. The Signature Project designation signals that the three governments intend to prioritise and resource the programme above ordinary bilateral procurement, making it the clearest single marker of how AUKUS Pillar II's undersea-vehicle ambitions are being industrialised.
The programme draws its first rival bid
On 8 June 2026, Norway's Kongsberg and Italy's DRASS announced a joint bid for AUKUS Pillar II procurement, answering the Signature Project's 30 May fact sheet that had named only two US-built platforms.
The Project gained its first concrete UK contribution three weeks later: Britain's 30 June Defence Investment Plan named Type 91 and Type 93 uncrewed vessels as weapons under development for the Signature Project, the first UK platforms tied to it since the all-American May launch.
What was announced at the AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project signing in May 2026?
What missions will the AUKUS UUV Signature Project cover?
Why is the AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project significant for underwater warfare?
When will the AUKUS UUV project deliver hardware?
Which UK ship classes are linked to the AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project?
