Exercise Autonomous Warrior 2022 (AW22) has commenced in the waters of Jervis Bay on the NSW south coast.

Designed to test and demonstrate new autonomous maritime capabilities, the two-week exercise will involve 300 defence and industry personnel from 40 organisations from Australia, the US, and the UK.

About 40 systems will demonstrate capabilities in mine countermeasures, survey, surveillance, reconnaissance, undersea warfare, intelligence gathering, force protection, interoperability, and interchangeability in simulations covering maritime, littoral, air, and land operations.

Director General Warfare Innovation – Navy, CDRE Darron Kavanagh said AW22 comes at a crucial time for Australia and is an important industry collaboration activity. “Throughout the Indo-Pacific, Australia is facing evolving maritime security challenges,” he said in a 16 May ADF release. “This international maritime Robotics and Autonomous System Operational Experimentation activity will evaluate leading-edge technologies to help us respond to those challenges.

“AW22 is an exciting opportunity to showcase the utility and advantages of uncrewed systems in a variety of warfare domains in collaboration with our allies, partners, and industry,” he added. “It demonstrates our commitment to ongoing collaboration, transformation, and adaptation to meet strategic requirements.”