US Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr William LaPlante and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Engagements Heidi Shyu met with Australian Deputy Secretary of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group Christopher Deeble and Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro.

US officials also met with Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy MP to discuss efforts to bolster production in both nations and opportunities for greater industrial collaboration.

“In support of a shared vision for a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific, the US and Australian delegations conducted plenary sessions on a range of science, technology, acquisition, and sustainment topics,” a US State Department statement said.

“This included Australia’s recent Defence Strategic Review, capability acceleration, industry integration, and supply chain resilience.

“Plenary sessions also reviewed a number of specific capability cooperative areas, such as guided weapons and explosive ordnance; the maintenance, repair, and overhaul initiative; and co-development efforts for the MQ-4 Triton, E-7A Wedgetail, Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment and other critical technologies.

“The robust, collaborative discussions emphasised opportunities for greater co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment.

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“The talks also reaffirmed the two countries’ commitment to strengthening cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally through AUKUS and other regional partnerships.”

Dr LaPlante and Shyu also attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, conducted an industry site visit to Australian defence contractor CEA Technologies, and participated in a demonstration flight of the E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.