Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will travel Dec. 1-2 to California.
Secretary Austin will host the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Australia, and the Right Honourable Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom at Moffett Field Dec. 1 to discuss the Australia-United Kingdom-United States Security Partnership (AUKUS) on the campus of the Defense Innovation Unit. The leaders will review progress made in implementing the Optimal Pathway to provide Australia with a conventionally-armed, nuclear powered submarine capability and discuss current and future efforts to develop and deliver advanced capabilities and promote deeper collaboration between the three nation's innovation ecosystems and defense industrial bases.
The Secretary will also spend time with DIU personnel who are accelerating the adoption of leading commercial technology throughout the military and growing the national security innovation base.
Secretary Austin will then travel to Simi Valley to deliver a keynote address Dec. 2 at the 2023 Reagan National Defense Forum, where he will emphasize the department's efforts to build enduring advantages through accelerating force development, capitalizing on the latest technology, and making investments in the department's people.
The Secretary's travel to California comes as the United States, along with U.S. allies and partners, continues to deliver historic momentum toward a shared vision to preserve the rules-based international order.
