Australia to test AI to track Chinese submarines

Australia will join the United States and the United Kingdom to trial a new way of tracking Chinese submarines using artificial intelligence, and the news comes a fortnight after Australian naval divers were injured in an incident with a Chinese warship.

U.S. Navy surveillance and attack aircraft will deploy the technology during patrols in the Pacific to process large amounts of information collected from the three nations’ sonobuoys, or underwater detection devices.

The announcement follows a meeting of the countries’ defense officials and is part of the AUKUS defense agreement.

Last month, Australian naval personnel suffered minor injuries when a Chinese warship began operating its fully assembled sonar despite repeated warnings that divers were in the water.

Officials called the incident “unsafe and unprofessional” as they revealed a series of new AUKUS initiatives.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said the new technology package was highly relevant to Australia’s strategic circumstances.

“(The incident) absolutely highlights the need for this deal and absolutely highlights the need for speed in this deal and I think you can see that speed,” he said.

“We have advocated with the relevant agencies. We are seeing infrastructure work starting, our workforce being trained and visits taking place. This is moving quickly.”

Australia will receive $3 billion in military training and equipment from the United States as part of the AUKUS deal.

The agreement, announced as part of an AUKUS meeting in the United States, includes training navy personnel in underwater navigation and ship control.

An additional 70 US government and contractor representatives will be sent to Australia over three years.

Marles said this was a first practical step in delivering the technology.