Japan, AUKUS to Cooperate on Maritime Autonomous Systems

Washington, Sept. 18 (Jiji Press)--The leaders of the three AUKUS countries--the United States, Britain and Australia--said in a joint statement Tuesday that the countries will cooperate with Japan in developing maritime autonomous systems.

"Following initial consultations this year and leveraging Japan's deep technical expertise, AUKUS partners and Japan are exploring opportunities to improve interoperability of their maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of cooperation," the AUKUS leaders said.

The leaders added that their countries are also "consulting with Canada, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities."

The latest announcement came after the AUKUS defense ministers said in April that they were considering cooperation with Japan.

Under the AUKUS security framework, cooperation on the deployment of nuclear-powered submarines in Australia is positioned as the first pillar, and cooperation on advanced capabilities, including the project with Japan, as the second pillar.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]