UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard hosted Australia’s Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy in London on 23 February 2026, restarting the Australia–UK Defence Industry Dialogue to deepen industrial cooperation and support delivery of AUKUS. (gov.uk)
Officials set out near‑term technical work: further cooperation on Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, observation of MQ‑28A testing at Woomera in 2026 with potential UK demonstrations, and strengthened collaboration on directed‑energy systems and software‑enabled planning tools for joint operations. (minister.defence.gov.au)
Pillar I progress was underlined by HMS Anson’s arrival at HMAS Stirling, Western Australia, for a planned maintenance period-the first undertaken in Australia by a UK boat-intended to build sovereign skills for the Submarine Rotational Force‑West and the broader Optimal Pathway. (defence.gov.au)
Workforce and industrial integration are expanding, with additional Australian personnel embedded at BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow, reactor manufacturing advancing for both nations’ SSN‑AUKUS boats, and around 1,000 Australians in Royal Navy training pipelines alongside investment at Raynesway infrastructure. (minister.defence.gov.au)
The ministers also prioritised supply‑chain resilience: cooperation on energetics and munitions supply to the UK, information‑sharing and research on critical minerals essential to advanced defence technologies, and options to strengthen steel capacity needed for SSN‑AUKUS delivery. (minister.defence.gov.au)
Both sides committed to making defence trade more frictionless by addressing mobility, security clearances and cyber security standards, while acknowledging these changes require coordinated action beyond Defence to translate into near‑term improvements for industry. (minister.defence.gov.au)
These trade objectives sit atop the AUKUS licence‑free export environment introduced from 1 September 2024. The UK established an AUKUS‑specific Open General Licence and an Authorised User Community, the United States confirmed an ITAR 126.7 exemption, and Australia legislated reciprocal reforms-changes officials say remove hundreds of permits annually. (gov.uk)
For exporters, the operational steps are administrative but material: register and use the UK AUKUS OGEL via SPIRE, verify counterparties’ Authorised User status, and maintain record‑keeping and compliance obligations set by the Department for Business and Trade’s OGEL framework. (gov.uk)
Pillar I focuses on submarine industrial integration and workforce pipelines; Pillar II accelerates advanced capabilities-with UK guidance listing areas such as artificial intelligence and quantum-aimed at near‑term operational effects. The ministers identified Pillar II acceleration as a priority outcome of the meeting. (gov.uk)
Near‑term milestones include targeted trade missions-among them an Australian Submarine Agency mission aligned to the Underwater Defence Technology tradeshow in London-and supply‑chain events through March in Adelaide and Perth, alongside risk‑reduction activity on radar and MQ‑28A‑related demonstrations. (minister.defence.gov.au)
Finally, the governments reaffirmed coordinated support to Ukraine, including exploring UK weapons testing at Australian ranges to validate long‑range systems, presented as a practical contribution to Ukraine’s security and resilience. (minister.defence.gov.au)