UK and US confirm first torpedo launch from uncrewed drone
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrived in New York City on Monday for the annual United Nations General Assembly, where he will meet US President Donald Trump face-to-face for the first time on Tuesday, according to BBC News. The two leaders have spoken by phone twice since Burnham became prime minister in July, with Downing Street describing those calls as establishing a ‘productive relationship.’
Speaking to reporters aboard his flight to the United States, Burnham said he expects to find ‘common ground’ with Trump. ‘We’ve found a connection. So, I will go with where I feel it’s right, to meet him where he is at, and search for that common ground, which I’m sure we’ll find,’ the prime minister said, adding that he was looking forward to the meeting. Asked about the state of the UK-US relationship, Burnham told reporters he believes it is ‘as strong as it’s ever been,’ though BBC News reported that for a new British prime minister, the first meeting with a US president has always been a pivotal encounter, but officials are aware of the added jeopardy of a public appearance alongside Trump.
Burnham travelled to New York with his wife, Marie-France Van Heel, for a day of diplomacy and a speech to the UN General Assembly expected to focus on the opportunities and dangers of artificial intelligence. In his address, the prime minister said, he will ‘be making the case for closer international co-operation on AI, a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and renewed efforts to bring an end to the conflict in the Middle East because what happens abroad impacts each and every one of us at home.’
Alongside the diplomatic agenda, the UK will announce the start of work on a new AI and Autonomy partnership with the United States, focused on protecting critical national infrastructure using AI technology.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is expected to criticize the partnership at the final day of his party’s conference, according to BBC News. Davey will say the plan ‘doesn’t come close to meeting the scale of the threat’ and ‘only risks making us more dependent on a Trump administration in the pocket of the tech bros.’ He will also call for a global pause on superintelligent AI and propose a new International AI Safety Agency. His criticisms come after a series of stark warnings from the AI industry about the technology’s possible dangers.
In advance of the New York meeting, the UK revealed that it and the United States have, for the first time, fired an American torpedo from a British undersea drone in a military exercise. The torpedo, described as ‘heavyweight’ by UK officials, is ‘designed to sink ships and deep diving submarines,’ Downing Street said.
It was launched in UK waters last week from a 12-metre-long undersea drone called Excalibur, made in Plymouth. It is the first time either the UK or the US have launched a torpedo from an uncrewed underwater vessel rather than a crewed submarine, and the test is seen as a breakthrough in attempts to protect vital infrastructure such as deep-sea data cables. ‘Our work together already shows what can be achieved when our two countries combine our expertise and innovation,’ the prime minister said.
Burnham was also asked by reporters about the UK government’s effort to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and pay to lease back the joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia. The deal was confirmed in April to have been paused indefinitely after Trump withdrew his support. Burnham spoke to Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam on Monday.
Asked by reporters what he had told Ramgoolam, whether he supported the deal, and whether he had a plan to convince Trump to back it, Burnham said: ‘I said that we remain determined to secure the long-term operation of the base, which is crucial to our security and that of our allies. The assurance I gave was I will work towards a resolution, at the moment we don’t have that, but I gave an assurance that I would commit to working towards one.‘