Australia

Australia's first AUKUS Pillar II project, signed in Singapore on 30 May 2026, named two US-built underwater robots for a shared mission-equipment programme: the Mission Specialist Defender Mk IV and the L3Harris Iver4 900. Hardware deliveries start in 2027, and no British-built platform appears in the fact sheet.

European industry moved quickly to contest the next round. On 8 June Norway's Kongsberg and the Italian builder DRASS announced a joint bid pairing a Kongsberg underwater drone with a compact submarine that carries three of them. A month later, on 6 July, Thales agreed to buy Exail for €3.9bn, folding France's uncrewed submarines and navigation systems into one company. For Canberra, the choice is whether its seabed fleet stays an American monopoly or becomes a contested market.

Australia sent a single high-value asset to the strait of Hormuz Coalition. On 18 May 2026 it committed an advanced surveillance aircraft, alongside a French aircraft carrier, a German minehunter and supply ship, and a Belgian minehunter rerouted from the Baltic.

The deployment gives Canberra a role in Gulf maritime security FAR from its own region, through the same alliance ties that bind it to Washington and London. Eight days into the deployment no rules of engagement had been published for the Coalition. Australia's Iran policy has also run through diplomacy: on 13 August it was among 32 states, with the EU's High Representative, that condemned Iran's use of the death penalty after at least 56 national-security executions since 19 March.

Australia's 2026 World Cup began with a record. In Vancouver on 14 June it beat Türkiye 2-0, and Nestory Irankunda, at 20 years and four months, became the country's youngest World Cup scorer, displacing Brett Holman's mark from 2010. Connor Metcalfe added the second.

The group stage then turned harder. The United States won 2-0 on 19 June through a Cameron Burgess own goal and an Alex Freeman header, and a goalless draw with Paraguay followed in a dead rubber. In the Round of 32 on 3 July, Australia drew 1-1 with Egypt and lost 4-2 on penalties, handing Egypt the first World Cup knockout win in its history.