Executives from Britain’s main defence commerce associations have warned MPs that the second strand of the AUKUS safety pact, centered on superior applied sciences similar to AI, undersea techniques and cyber, lacks clear course, devoted funding and a coherent UK roadmap, leaving Western companions susceptible to strategic drift.
Showing earlier than the Commons Defence Committee, Matthew Evans of techUK stated bluntly, “Now we have not fulfilled the ambition of Pillar 2 but, that’s the easy reply.” Pressed by Derek Twigg MP on whether or not that delay gave Beijing a bonus, Evans replied, “Sure. The easy reply to that’s sure.”
The witnesses have been clear that whereas the nuclear submarine programme beneath Pillar 1 has momentum and construction, Pillar 2, designed to develop applied sciences similar to “AI and autonomy, undersea warfare, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic techniques,” stays fragmented. Evans described the trouble as “various testbeds… however solely two innovation challenges,” warning that “we’re not transferring rapidly sufficient.”
Andrew Kinniburgh, Director Basic of Make UK Defence, stated trade had requested the Ministry of Defence to “get the yellow highlighter out” and determine which present tasks fall inside AUKUS. “We’re determined to see the defence funding plan, what we’re going to put cash into, what our key priorities are and what our sovereign capabilities within the UK are,” he instructed MPs.
Samira Braund of ADS Group added that the absence of ringfenced funding has slowed progress. “There was numerous exercise with present programmes which have turn into AUKUS programmes, however there has not been devoted funding for Pillar 2,” she stated. The sector is urging the federal government to create “a devoted, ringfenced pool of funding for AUKUS Pillar 2” within the forthcoming Defence Funding Plan.
Braund cited the latest Strategic Defence Assessment, noting that “the UK ought to double down on each pillars of the AUKUS settlement, utilizing Pillar 2 to check and develop a template for future expertise roadmaps.” She added that the present gradual tempo “offers benefit to all our adversaries.”
The panel agreed that whereas AUKUS Pillar 1, centered on nuclear-powered submarines, has a transparent focus within the SSN-AUKUS mission, Pillar 2 lacks equal construction or urgency. With out that, stated Evans, Britain and its allies danger ceding floor to China in next-generation defence applied sciences.