Australia, Japan and US Command a Japanese Drone Through One Underwater Communications Network

Australian, Japanese and US teams demonstrated two-way control of a Japanese REMUS 620 underwater vehicle through a shared network during Exercise Keen Sword 27 in Japan. Position data passed from the vehicle to Australia's Rock Lobster underwater communications node, then through a US gateway to a US ground station. A command travelled back through the same multinational chain to complete the exchange under operationally relevant exercise conditions. Announced on November 3, the experiment tested interoperability among autonomous platforms and national communications technologies, providing an integration demonstration rather than announcing a jointly deployed operational system.