Asia Defense | Security | Oceania

What Has AUKUS Pillar II Achieved Over 5 Years? 

Pillar II’s progress has proven difficult to judge – not due to a lack of activity, but because there’s no agreed metric for what success should look like.

It’s been five years since the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced AUKUS, a security partnership designed to deepen technology and capability-sharing among the three countries.

While its much-publicized Pillar I component – centered on Australia’s acquisition of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines – is reported to be “on track,” the lesser-known Pillar II component has come under mounting criticism for “failing” to deliver fast enough.

As a framework for the joint development and fielding of advanced military capabilities, Pillar II was initially pegged by some analysts to be the “more consequential” arm of the AUKUS partnership – not only for delivering on a shorter timeline than Pillar I, but also for leveraging the latest technologies known to be reshaping how modern conflicts are fought.

In the years that have passed since its announcement, Pillar II’s progress has proven difficult to judge – not due to a lack of activity, but because there’s no agreed metric for what success should look like. For some, its incrementalism is indicative of its failure, while to others, the breadth of its objectives warrants a slow and steady approach. 

Five years on, it’s time to take stock of Pillar II’s objectives and efforts to better understand this evolving debate, and consider what lies ahead.  

What Is Pillar II Trying To Do? 

Pillar II, known as Advanced Capabilities, involves the collaborative development, fielding and production of advanced military capabilities in six key areas: artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy, cyber, electronic warfare, hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, quantum, and undersea warfare.

Developments in each of these technology areas are reshaping how conflicts are fought. The wars in Ukraine and Iran reveal how AI, unmanned systems, hypersonics, cyber, and electronic warfare have been leveraged in new ways by actors on all sides of these conflicts. 

It’s also no coincidence that these are technology areas where China is reported to be outperforming the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia in research and innovation. China is leading in 69 of 74 technologies deemed critical to strategic competition by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. AUKUS Pillar II is intended to close this gap by combining each country’s strengths in innovation, technology, and industry to create advanced military capabilities at a faster speed than any one of them could achieve individually. 

More specifically, the three AUKUS partners seek to achieve greater interoperability and industrial integration between participating countries. Part of this is achieved through co-developing new capabilities that are designed, from the outset, to integrate into each countries’ existing military platforms and processes. Similarly, significant changes to the policy landscape – or “enabling environment” – in each country intend to make it easier for them to share information and technology with each other.

It’s due to these reasons that some analysts believe Pillar II will generate “greater long-term value” than the Pillar I nuclear-powered submarines – not just for the advanced capabilities Pillar II would produce, but because of its long-term role in reducing barriers to collaboration between the three countries. 

Where Has There Been Progress?

Over the last five years, cooperation has taken place across the different workstreams. The most notable activities have primarily focused on the collaborative research, development, and testing of capabilities, and the achievement of regulatory alignment between AUKUS countries. One early example of this collaboration is a jointly developed AI algorithm for reconnaissance aircraft that was unveiled in December 2023 and used operationally in August 2025.

The table below summarizes the publicly reported Pillar II activities to date. 

Since the announcement of Pillar II wasn’t accompanied by a signature project, like the nuclear-powered submarines for Pillar I, judging the extent to which these activities count as progress depends on how success is measured. 

AUKUS countries have established defense trade exemptions for around 80 percent of U.S. defense exports to Australia and the U.K. that were previously subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Experts agree that the regulatory reforms are necessary to facilitate technology and industrial collaboration between the three countries. 

That said, some argue that too much emphasis has been placed on these reforms as evidence that things are on track – especially since they........

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