Australian defence official warns Washington audience about military tech innovation gap with China, Russia
- Deputy defence secretary used occasion to call for Washington to clear regulatory impediments to the full implementation of the Aukus alliance
- ‘Russia and China are outpacing the US and its allies’ in some areas of military technology, he said
Australia and the US must bolster their industrial cooperation to be better prepared to face evolving threats in the Indo-Pacific region, a high-ranking Australian defence official said on Monday.
Hugh Jeffrey, Australia’s Deputy Defence Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Industry, commended his US counterparts for their assessment that the military-industrial architecture developed during the Cold War is not adequate for today’s challenges.
“Russia and China are outpacing the US and its allies” in some areas of military innovation, Jeffrey said. “Our ability to co-innovate, co-invest, and co-produce [defence technology] today will determine who wins the battle for military advantage tomorrow.
“My view is that the consensus has emerged on both sides of the Pacific on this issue, that we do need to change things up,” Jeffrey said, adding that Aukus will play a pivotal role.
Announced in 2021, the alliance will give the Australian defence industry the capacity to build nuclear submarines and replace its diesel-powered vessels. The strategy is widely seen as an attempt to contain the advances of the Chinese navy in the region, especially in the South China Sea.
Australia wants Japan’s ‘cutting edge’ tech for Aukus – but not just yet
Under the NDAA, the Department of Defence was formally authorised to transfer three Virginia-class submarines. The Act also allowed Australian contractors to train in US shipyards and established a mechanism for Washington to accept funds from Canberra to boost its submarine industrial base, besides adding a national exemption from US export control licensing requirements.
Both American allies have implemented legislative reforms to achieve certification, but they have not yet been finalised due to pressure from some lawmakers, researchers and local media.
For instance, Australian scholars have raised concerns to the government about the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Bill introduced last year by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to comply with Washington’s regulations.
Many have argued the prime minister’s proposal jeopardises research collaboration by severely restricting the sharing of information with foreign researchers, including those in Australia.
“[It] will create a level of uncertainty and doubt about how changes to Australia’s defence trade controls framework... will impact Australia’s research collaborations with countries outside of the trilateral agreement,” the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering wrote in a joint statement in November.
Jeffrey acknowledged the concerns in his address on Tuesday, but emphasised that the legislation aims to broaden collaboration with other nations once licenses are granted, facilitating “the responsible transfer of controlled goods and technology.”
He also assured that Canberra has no intention of restricting foreign students or academics from participating in research with Australian institutions.
“The bill is designed to prevent sensitive defence goods and technologies from being passed to foreign actors in a manner that may harm Australia’s interests (...) We want to control only what has to be controlled for security reasons, nothing else,” he said.
Final Pentagon bill features Taiwan, Aukus and counters to China’s influence
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is awaiting approval for the US$95 billion national security supplemental budget, which includes US$3.3 billion in Aukus funding.
The supplemental budget has already been approved by the Senate, but it needs to be put to a vote in the House of Representatives.
In February, the State Department’s undersecretary for arms control, Bonnie Jenkins, told a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing that funding for the ambitious project to expand and modernise the US submarine industry was essential.
“We need to pass a supplemental [budget] because of all the things in here, including Aukus, that shows the US wants to continue to be a leader,” Jenkins said.
