Cornhusker State News

U.S. Senators Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) have introduced the AUKUS Improvement Act, aiming to further streamline defense collaboration and co-production between the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The legislation builds on previous bipartisan efforts in the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act. Additional sponsors include Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Chris Coons (D-DE).

“The United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom collectively face our most challenging threat environment since WWII. As we approach the 4th anniversary of AUKUS, it’s clear more should be done to break down bureaucratic obstacles and ensure a more seamless defense innovation and trade environment,” said Ricketts. “By streamlining transfers of critical capabilities to two of our closest allies while also facilitating a more efficient co-production ecosystem, the AUKUS Improvement Act will strengthen our allies’ warfighting edge, improve interoperability, and support our own industrial base.”

“The AUKUS partnership is critical to countering the threat from China and ensuring the Indo-Pacific remains free and open,” said Kaine. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to strengthen AUKUS and boost defense collaboration among our countries.”

The act addresses challenges related to foreign military sales (FMS) with Australia, which has placed $23 billion in FMS orders over five years—making it one of the top users of this process. FMS ensures that Australia receives equipment identical to what is used by U.S. forces, supporting interoperability as well as providing American deployed forces in Australia with spare parts.

Australia often needs written consent from the U.S. State Department through Third Party Transfer requests when transferring equipment obtained via FMS for further development or maintenance by industry partners. These requests can take months for approval. The proposed act would make such transfers subject to similar export controls used under AUKUS for Direct Commercial Sales, potentially speeding up delivery of capabilities.

In 2021, Australia created the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise to expand munitions stockpiles and develop domestic manufacturing for guided weapons. The U.S. agreed to collaborate on flexible guided weapons production in Australia, starting with possible co-production of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems by 2025.

Current requirements under the Arms Export Control Act mandate Congressional Notification before approving licenses for manufacturing significant military equipment abroad—a step that adds time and complexity because these cases are excluded from expedited processing under AUKUS rules. This means Australia must obtain separate Manufacturing License Agreements for each component needed for precision-guided munitions production.

According to lawmakers supporting the bill, these regulatory hurdles limit timely cooperation on munitions co-production that could benefit both nations’ defense capabilities.

The full text of the bill is available online.