New Zealand took a step closer to participating in the trilateral AUKUS security arrangement today, announcing that it will examine “opportunities” related to the pact’s tech-heavy initiatives, Breaking Defense reports.
There are no indications New Zealand will join the effort to buy and build nuclear attack submarines — the core task Australia, United Kingdom and America have set themselves, known as PIllar I — but today the ministers said Australia would brief their Pacific island breathren about Pillar II, the so-far inchoate task of developing and fielding advanced technologies such as quantum, cyber, autonomy, artificial intelligence, hypersonics, and electronic warfare.
