# Navy Tests AUKUS Systems in Southern California

The U.S. Navy and AUKUS partners are conducting the Maritime Big Play Pacific demonstration in the Southern California operating area from October 5–25, 2026, testing more than 40 government and industry technologies across autonomous, crewed, and uncrewed systems. The demonstration is surfacing capability needs in maritime command and control, secure cross-domain communications, strike operations, contested resupply, and undersea warfare. It is a market signal rather than a procurement announcement: the report identifies no solicitation, contract award, or open vendor-registration opportunity.

- The demonstration’s focus areas give defense suppliers and integrators concrete capability areas to compare against their offerings, particularly systems that can operate across crewed and uncrewed platforms and support combined maritime operations.
- Procurement teams can use the event’s technology and interoperability focus as context for capability planning; the signal does not establish a specific requirement, acquisition timeline, or contract opportunity.
- The demonstration runs through October 25, 2026. Companies should not treat participation or vendor registration as open based on this announcement.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military, Information Technology
**Topics:** Digital Infrastructure, Cybersecurity
**Published:** October 08, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Navy (USN)
- Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, Critical Technologies (OUSW(R&E) CT)
- Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific)
- U.S. Pacific Fleet
- U.S. Marine Corps (USMC)

### Key Quotes
> We’ve brought together cutting-edge systems from across our shared industrial base, put those solutions into the hands of AUKUS Warfighters so they can train together, and removed the technical barriers for integrating those advanced capabilities into no-kidding operations.
> — Gerry Tighe, U.S. Lead for AUKUS Maritime Big Play

### Sources
- [
	U.S. Navy and AUKUS Partners Launch Landmark Maritime Big Play Pacific Demonstration > United States Navy > display-pressreleases
](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4620986/us-navy-and-aukus-partners-launch-landmark-maritime-big-play-pacific-demonstrat/) - NAVY