The Australian, United Kingdom and United States navies tested the ability of uncrewed and remotely operated underwater vehicles to protect critical undersea infrastructure during Talisman Sabre 25 in Australia, a milestone in AUKUS cooperation.
The British Royal Navy said the exercise marked the first time a trilateral battlestaff directed seabed warfare operations from a ship at sea. The vessel, ADV Guidance, completed over 17 joint ROV missions.
Seabed Battlespace
“These operational exercises are an excellent opportunity to accelerate our understanding of seabed warfare capabilities and to get them to warfighting as quickly as possible,” said Cdre. Marcus Rose, the Royal Navy’s deputy director of underwater battlespace.
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The three-week-long TS25 kicked off in July with 19 participating nations. An underwater acoustic communication test in collaboration with Japan was one of the key demonstrations.
Joint Undersea Warfare
According to the Royal Navy, the AUKUS Pillar 2 seabed warfare team uses experiments and exercises like Talisman Sabre to enhance capability development and improve interoperability across partner nations.
It said the trials build on earlier AUKUS seabed warfare events, helping partners refine tactics and deepen interoperability to counter emerging threats.
Maritime Innovation
In March, defense innovation units from the three nations launched the AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025, which is centered on maritime autonomy and undersea warfare.
“Autonomous systems are essential for gaining operational advantage in complex environments such as undersea zones, where national interests and critical infrastructure are at stake,” the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit said.
Plans are underway for another integrated seabed warfare experiment later this year, followed by a larger exercise on the scale of Talisman Sabre in 2026.