Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on increasing (a) innovation and (b) information sharing within the AUKUS programme.

AUKUS partners continue to progress innovation and information sharing. The AUKUS Innovation Working Group, led by the UK, leverages innovation in critical key areas, including: AUKUS Innovation Challenges; command-and-control Maritime Uncrewed Systems, the adoption of Autonomous Systems at scale; and the establishment of an industry-led AUKUS Defence Investors Network. AUKUS partners have also made significant progress on information sharing: the US National Defense Authorization Act for 2024 included significant reforms to International Trade in Arms (ITAR) and US export controls, to enable increased license-free trade and information-sharing between AUKUS nations. This was informed by extensive UK and Australian engagement and will be critical to the success of AUKUS.