A movement is apparently underway to encourage a security consortium composed of Australia, the USA and the UK to expand its focus beyond naval technology into the realm of aerospace.
AUKUS, as the security group is known, was founded in 2021 with the objective of delivering a nuclear submarine capability to Canberra.
While that effort remains a priority, an independent Australian group that seeks to influence AUKUS is signalling that the defence acquisition goals of the pact may move beyond the undersea realm.
“There will be submarines, but so much more,” the non-profit AUKUS Forum says in a 20 August LinkedIn.com post.
Sources within the Australian government tell FlightGlobal the AUKUS Forum does not officially represent the AUKUS alliance or Canberra itself. However the Forum’s staff includes two formerly high-ranking officials from the Australian government – former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon and former ambassador to the USA Arthur Sinodinos.
The Forum describes itself as working to bring together key figures from the three AUKUS member states, including those from private industry, academia and government. “Our mission is to support the AUKUS alliance by ensuring maximum Australian industry participation,” its website states.
The LinkedIn.com post says AUKUS Forum chief executive Michael Sharpe visited the Texas headquarters of American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell on 20 August, seeking to “build collaboration with the US industrial base”.
“The AUKUS delegation met with executives at Bell Flight and inspected the Bell Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) in Fort Worth, Texas,” it says.
It notes Bell is using the MTC to develop the industrial base needed to produce the US Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) tiltrotor – formerly known as the V280 Valor.
Bell confirms the AUKUS visit to FlightGlobal, noting the MTC will be key to “successfully deploying new manufacturing technologies and processes into Bell’s future factories to support Future Vertical Lift aircraft”.
“Both parties discussed the critical importance of collaboration of technology, industrial bases and supply chains to support security and defence interests,” Bell says of the Australian group’s visit.
While the talks raise the intriguing prospect of Australia signing on the FLRAA programme alongside the US Army, discussions may more likely be focused on best practices in modern defence manufacturing.
Canberra is in the midst of acquiring of 40 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks to replace its retired NH Industries MRH90 Taipans. The Royal Australian Navy also plans to acquire 12 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawks, with deliveries starting next year.
AUKUS Forum CEO Sharpe is an Australian business magnate with ties to many industries, including agriculture, energy, defence and aerospace. He is listed as chairman of the Sharpe Family Office, an advisory firm advertising consulting and capital-fundraising services in Australia.
The AUKUS Forum says Sharpe plans to spend several weeks in the USA meeting with other government and industry officials with a focus on “aerospace, defence vehicle manufacturing and more”.
This aligns with an official policy statement jointly released in April by the three AUKUS defence ministers saying they seek to ”break down barriers to collaboration, spur a more-integrated defence industrial base and private sector partnership, and identify new opportunities for trilateral capability development”.
The group took a major step toward that aim earlier in August, when Washington dropped licensing restrictions on exports of many defence technologies to Australia, an administrative process which can take a year or more to complete under the USA’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
The newly relaxed rules are set to take effect on 1 September and cover up to 70% of defence exports between the USA and Australia, according to Reuters.
