UK to Lead AUKUS Undersea Sensors for UUV Threat Detection

AUKUS partners test advanced kit UK Sets Pace on New Undersea Sensors to Detect Threats

2026-11-04 Source: Press release UK Government, adapted by 3 min Reading Time

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The UK will lead development of three advanced undersea sensor payloads for uncrewed vehicles under AUKUS, following a week of testing at the Maritime Big Play exercise in San Diego.

The UK will lead the next stage of delivery of cutting-edge undersea sensing technologies which will be deployed from uncrewed underwater vessels as part of the AUKUS security partnership.

The announcement rounds off a week of testing and demonstrations at the Maritime Big Play exercise in San Diego.

This advances the first signature project under AUKUS Pillar 2 - announced in May as part of the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the UK and the United States - seeks to pool the innovation of each nations’ defence sector to develop advanced military capabilities to strengthen deterrence and security around the world.

The UK will lead development and delivery of three pioneering sensor payloads for uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs): a Synthetic Aperture Sonar, a Deployable Anti-Submarine Warfare Sensor, and a Deployable Non-Kinetic Effector.

These capabilities will collect detailed underwater information, deploy sensors to detect and classify underwater threats, and generate underwater effects. The payloads will help UUVs provide surveillance of large ocean areas and protect underwater infrastructure.

The payloads will be available across the three nations’ UUV fleets from 2027, enhancing the reach and effectiveness of those fleets and reinforcing strategic deterrence across the Euro-Atlantic, High North and Indo-Pacific.

£298 billion of UK defence spending

The project positions AUKUS at the forefront of autonomy and uncrewed systems in the maritime domain and wraps up the latest series of exercises conducted last week at the Maritime Big Play (MBP) exercise in San Diego, a proving ground where autonomous marine capabilities are integrated and tested before wider adoption across the AUKUS partnership.

The AUKUS partnership is backed by the Defence Investment Plan, which set out £298 billion of UK defence spending over the next four years, marking the largest sustained increase since the end of the Cold War.

The Maritime Big Play exercise aims to shorten the path from innovation to capability by testing new maritime technologies in realistic operational environments. Exercises at MBP-Pacific tested how Australian, UK and US crewed and uncrewed systems operate together across four strands: anti-submarine warfare, lethality, contested resupply, and subsea and seabed warfare.

The UK led the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) strand, contributing thirteen uncrewed surface vehicles, two ASW targets and four underwater gliders from six industry partners. The testing supports the transition to a Hybrid Navy: a more flexible, modern force blending crewed and uncrewed platforms, able to detect underwater threats to the UK and allies’ critical undersea infrastructure.

The event also showcased two of the four UK winners from the AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge – SEA Ltd, based in Frome, and Decision Analysis Services Ltd, based in Basingstoke – demonstrating their cutting-edge technology to trilateral partners and media at MBP-P.

The two companies, along with A2i (based in Dorchester) and US company MSI Transducers, make up the four suppliers that won the Maritime Innovation Challenge, and a share in £3 million of funding to develop innovative capabilities enabling the command, control and cooperation of undersea systems.

The winners show the breadth and diversity across AUKUS innovation, with one SME, two large suppliers, and one micro-consultancy. MBP featured 12 UK industry partners showcasing their role at the forefront of development in the maritime domain, demonstrating how the AUKUS partnership is driving economic growth across the UK, creating skilled jobs and opportunities for companies of all sizes.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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Maritime Big Play and the announcement on delivery progress for the first signature project follows a strong month for UK delivery against AUKUS Pillar 2. This includes the successful test firing of a US-Australian heavyweight torpedo from a UK extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle, XV Excalibur, a historic first for an uncrewed submarine and an important milestone in enhancing interoperability and delivering the signature project.