AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025: Undersea Communications and Autonomy
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-31)

AUKUS partners are seeking to research and develop innovations to enable the synchronisation and teaming of multiple undersea systems.

- DASA has launched a new AUKUS Competition: Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025.
- This is the second iteration of AUKUS Pillar 2’s Innovation Challenge Series which will run concurrently in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- The UK competition run by DASA is open to all nations, although entrants from Australia (http://www.asca.gov.au) or the United States (https://www.diu.mil/) can refer to their national competition page if they prefer.
- Up to $8m USD in funding is available.
The Defence and Security Accelerator (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/defence-and-security-accelerator) (DASA) is pleased to launch the Maritime Innovation Challenge 2025 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/aukus-maritime-innovation-challenge-2025) as a new AUKUS Competition. Following the ministerial announcement (https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/statements/2023-12-02/aukus-defense-ministers-meeting-joint-statement) in December 2023 to launch an innovation challenge series under the AUKUS partnership, this competition is the second iteration of AUKUS Pillar 2’s Innovation Challenge Series. The challenge has been trilaterally agreed and is being run as a single multi-stage competition, across the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (https://www.asca.gov.au/) (ASCA) in Australia, the Defence and Security Accelerator (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/defence-and-security-accelerator) (DASA) in the United Kingdom and the Defence Innovation Unit (https://www.diu.mil/) (DIU) in the United States.

What is AUKUS?

AUKUS is a landmark security and defence partnership between Australia, the UK, and the US to support a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening regional global security. Through Pillar 2, AUKUS partners seek to strengthen trilateral capabilities in cutting-edge military technologies, increase interoperability, and drive knowledge-sharing and innovation.

What are we looking for?

AUKUS partners are seeking to research and develop innovations to enable the synchronisation and teaming of multiple undersea systems. We invite innovations that enable some or all of the following Desired Capability Effects:
- Provide near real time communications between Undersea Vehicles (UVs)
- Provide near real time communications from UVs to Command and Control (C2) Systems /Battle Management System (BMS)
- Provide near real time communications between seabed systems to UVs and C2 System and BMS
- Provide a system that can optimally allocate the right asset to the right task in a dynamic and complex environment
- Provide optimal bandwidth utilisation and effective range, and perform in a contested/congested environment
Successful proposals to this competition should seek to tackle one or more of the above Desired Capability Effects (1-5).

We are looking for:
- Proposals that describe how their solution will perform at various depths and hydrographic conditions
- Solutions that exploit the right mode of communication at every point of the mission to optimise the chance of mission success
- Solutions that could be applied to attritable or survivable systems
- Technologies that are Secure By Design
Key dates and funding
- Up to $8m USD in funding is available to fund multiple proposals.
- The deadline to submit a proposal for Stage 1 is midday 28 April 2025 (BST).
Do you have an innovation? Read the full competition document and submit a proposal. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/aukus-maritime-innovation-challenge-2025)

Supporting event

Launch Webinar: 3 April 2025

A dial-in session providing further detail on the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/aukus-maritime-innovation-challenge-2025-launch-webinar-tickets-1283910343399?aff=oddtdtcreator)

Submit a proposal

Do you have an innovative technology that could help provide Defence with a competitive advantage with undersea systems?

Read the full competition document to learn more and submit a proposal. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/aukus-maritime-innovation-challenge-2025)