Defense agencies and commercial industry partners from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) have concluded a major trilateral exercise aimed at accelerating autonomous maritime warfare capabilities across the Pacific.
The trial, designated Maritime Big Play Pacific, was held Oct. 5 through Oct. 25 off the coast of Southern California. Live-fire vignettes, operational testing, and media demonstrations were hosted out of regional defense facilities, including Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, San Clemente Island, and Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.
The exercise evaluated more than 40 government and commercial multi-domain technologies, integrating crewed and autonomous systems across air, surface, undersea, and space environments. Key capabilities tested included the following:
Undersea Cargo & Contested Resupply: Private contractors showcased extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUVs) built for heavy logistics and sensor deployment.
Surface & Aerial Autonomy: Three Corsair uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) conducted high-speed tactical maneuvers off San Clemente Island, while the Royal Navy demonstrated its Kraken USV launching three loitering aerial drones managed simultaneously by a single operator.
* Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) & Target Tracking: The exercise utilized small, orange RECALL UUVs to emulate enemy submarine signals, testing the real-time detection and tracking precision of allied acoustic sensors.
Military directors confirmed that the trial successfully met its core objectives by establishing seamless data-sharing, operational interoperability, and system integration among all three participating nations. Data gathered over five days of continuous sea testing verified that carbon-composite hulls like the Hadalus-XL achieved high acoustic stealth, remaining virtually undetected by acoustic monitoring during operations. Furthermore, anti-submarine warfare tests demonstrated that uncrewed assets can effectively detect underwater targets while allowing human decision-makers to remain at safe standoff distances.
What role might AUKUS play given the recent U.S. nuclear doctrine shift, outlined by Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, toward potential use of shorter range tactical nuclear weapons in regional conflicts with Russia or China?
