Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of progress being made in agreeing tri-national tasks of (1) vetting, (2) legal framework, and (3) standards, as AUKUS moves forward.

Good progress is being made on AUKUS Pillar 2, the Advanced Capabilities Pillar, on quantum technologies, undersea capabilities, artificial intelligence and cyber, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities, and electronic warfare capabilities, supported by two enabling workstreams covering innovation, and information sharing. Substantial progress is being made in accelerating the near-term delivery of certain capabilities that will meet our militaries' requirements earlier: the first AUKUS artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy trial, held in Wiltshire this April, achieved several world firsts, including the live retraining of models in flight and the interchange of AI models between AUKUS nations. AUKUS Principals met in London for the Advanced Capabilities Executive Group where they had productive discussions on Pillar 2 progress and endorsed a trilateral plan for engagement with industry ahead of the next meeting in November.

Whilst the Defence Secretary is the overall minister responsible for AUKUS, he is supported by the Permanent Secretary who is the most senior official on AUKUS, covering both Pillars 1 and 2. In the two years following the AUKUS announcement, the UK continues to work well on a trilateral basis, developing and implementing ambitious plans to streamline defence trade, whilst also strengthening our ability to protect sensitive technologies that underpin our security. Vetting, legal frameworks and establishing standards are an important part of wider AUKUS activity planned, with good progress being made overall.