SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — On Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-04) hosted the second annual AUKUS Defense Industry Forum in Huntsville, bringing together defense and national security leaders from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to discuss advanced defense capabilities, strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific, and Alabama’s role in future allied security cooperation.
The forum builds on Aderholt’s inaugural AUKUS gathering in 2024 and continues efforts to connect policymakers, defense experts, and industry innovators involved in the trilateral security partnership.
“Huntsville is the Rocket City — the town that helped win the space race — and today, the men and women shaping the future of defense cooperation and deterrence are gathered right here in Alabama,” Aderholt said. “AUKUS is about maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, but at its core it reflects trust among allies. That trust must now be translated into real capabilities, delivered with urgency.”
U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (AL-05) also participated in the forum, highlighting North Alabama’s strategic importance to allied defense innovation under AUKUS Pillar Two, which focuses on advanced military technologies.
“There are few better places to bring the goals of AUKUS Pillar Two to life than North Alabama and Redstone Arsenal,” Strong said. “This forum shows how Alabama continues to lead in defense cooperation, innovation, and information sharing with our allies.”
Aderholt said AUKUS priorities align with work already underway across Alabama’s defense and technology sectors, including cyber operations, artificial intelligence and autonomy, quantum technologies, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic development, electronic warfare, undersea capabilities, innovation, information sharing, and deep space radar.
“The tools that won the 20th century could cost us victory in the 21st if we fail to adapt,” Aderholt said. “Bureaucracy is a luxury we can no longer afford.”
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, Aderholt said Congress must ensure the Department of Defense has flexibility to plan, fund, and field joint capabilities while maintaining accountability.
During the forum, Aderholt introduced Major General Terry Grisham, an Alabama native selected to lead the transition of U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to its permanent headquarters in Huntsville.