Torpedo the red tape

US to expedite sharing of defence tech under AUKUS

Australia would receive fasttracked access to America’s top defence technologies under a plan drawn up by US politicians to slash the red tape that could otherwise cruel the AUKUS pact.

Republican senators have unveiled the Torpedo Act to overhaul the complicated web of US arms trafficking regulations that the Albanese government has warned will stifle efforts to share innovations including hypersonic missiles, artificial intelligence and electronic warfare.

House Republicans are also working with Democrats on their own bipartisan legislation, amid fears the Biden administration is not moving quickly enough on the issue.

While US export controls are unlikely to impede Australia’s plans to acquire a nuclearpowered submarine fleet, American officials and defence experts have echoed the Albanese government’s concerns that the rules were a roadblock to sharing other hitech military innovations under the AUKUS agreement.

The congressional solutions can be revealed ahead of Joe Biden’s first presidential visit to Australia next week, the first by a US leader since Barack Obama in 2011.

US State Department assistant secretary Jessica Lewis said an “AUKUS bubble” was being implemented to improve technology-sharing with Australia while a permanent legislative solution was developed. She acknowledged existing rules were “complex and difficult”.

“AUKUS is too important to wait. We need to act now, and we are,” Ms Lewis said. “We have not only a generational opportunity, but also a historic responsibility to protect these technologies.”

House Foreign Affairs

Committee chairman Michael McCaul said US export controls were “prohibiting our ability to make weapons with our closest allies in a very expeditious way”, and that he was drafting laws to create an exemption for Australia.

Mr McCaul said AUKUS government and industry leaders had been “clear about the current challenges relating to an operational AUKUS”.

Republican senators Bill Hegarty and Jim Risch – the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations committee – went further this month, introducing the Torpedo Act (Truncating Onerous Regulations

for Partners and Enhancing Deterrence Operations).

Their Bill would also create a senior State Department adviser to oversee the implementation of AUKUS, require regular reporting on blocked export requests, and force the Biden administration to advise on further changes required to ensure the success of AUKUS.

Senator Risch cautioned that the Biden administration was “failing to move at the speed of relevance”.

The sharing of defence technologies under AUKUS was designed to rapidly enhance Australia’s military might.