The United States, Australia and Britain are developing high-tech payloads for uncrewed underseas vehicles under their trilateral security partnership, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has announced.

Hegseth met his Australian and British counterparts on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday in Singapore, where they reviewed progress on the AUKUS pact, aimed at bolstering their presence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

¡°Today, we¡¯re pleased to announce the first AUKUS Pillar 2 signature project, focused on fielding advanced uncrewed undersea vehicles, or UUVs,¡± Hegseth told reporters at a briefing at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore.