diff --git a/docs/plugins/repository-s3.asciidoc b/docs/plugins/repository-s3.asciidoc
index 8191b00f9d92d..cb7cc67ddbce9 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/repository-s3.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/plugins/repository-s3.asciidoc
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ are marked as `Secure`.
 
 `use_throttle_retries`::
 
-    Whether retries should be throttled (ie use backoff). Must be `true` or `false`. Defaults to `false`.
+    Whether retries should be throttled (ie use backoff). Must be `true` or `false`. Defaults to `true`.
 
 [[repository-s3-repository]]
 ==== Repository Settings
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/build.gradle b/plugins/repository-s3/build.gradle
index e8c7326dee97b..7071307fbc3c2 100644
--- a/plugins/repository-s3/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/repository-s3/build.gradle
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ esplugin {
 }
 
 versions << [
-  'aws': '1.10.69'
+  'aws': '1.11.223'
 ]
 
 dependencies {
@@ -76,6 +76,15 @@ thirdPartyAudit.excludes = [
   'org.apache.avalon.framework.logger.Logger', 
   'org.apache.log.Hierarchy', 
   'org.apache.log.Logger',
+  'software.amazon.ion.IonReader',
+  'software.amazon.ion.IonSystem',
+  'software.amazon.ion.IonType',
+  'software.amazon.ion.IonWriter',
+  'software.amazon.ion.Timestamp',
+  'software.amazon.ion.system.IonBinaryWriterBuilder',
+  'software.amazon.ion.system.IonSystemBuilder',
+  'software.amazon.ion.system.IonTextWriterBuilder',
+  'software.amazon.ion.system.IonWriterBuilder',
 ]
 
 // jarhell with jdk (intentionally, because jaxb was removed from default modules in java 9)
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-core-1.10.69.jar.sha1 b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-core-1.10.69.jar.sha1
deleted file mode 100644
index 2971a33d7d91b..0000000000000
--- a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-core-1.10.69.jar.sha1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-a1f02d5f26ba1d8c37e2bf9c847db3c6729dda00
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-core-1.11.223.jar.sha1 b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-core-1.11.223.jar.sha1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9890dd8d600b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-core-1.11.223.jar.sha1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+c3993cb44f5856fa721b7b7ccfc266377c0bf9c0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-kms-1.10.69.jar.sha1 b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-kms-1.10.69.jar.sha1
deleted file mode 100644
index 22e1f924664fa..0000000000000
--- a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-kms-1.10.69.jar.sha1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-ed74ff3872193b4704a751f0b72ab2cf0db0651b
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-kms-1.11.223.jar.sha1 b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-kms-1.11.223.jar.sha1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d5bc9d30308dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-kms-1.11.223.jar.sha1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+c24e6ebe108c60a08098aeaad5ae0b6a5a77b618
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-s3-1.10.69.jar.sha1 b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-s3-1.10.69.jar.sha1
deleted file mode 100644
index 64e7336c2bc91..0000000000000
--- a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-s3-1.10.69.jar.sha1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-6fa48bf0bff43f26436956b88d8d3764b6cf109e
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-s3-1.11.223.jar.sha1 b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-s3-1.11.223.jar.sha1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..fe12b2d4847fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/repository-s3/licenses/aws-java-sdk-s3-1.11.223.jar.sha1
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+c2ef96732e22d97952fbcd0a94f1dc376d157eda
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AmazonS3Wrapper.java b/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AmazonS3Wrapper.java
index 2ce64d5c6fc83..bcab130e7d531 100644
--- a/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AmazonS3Wrapper.java
+++ b/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AmazonS3Wrapper.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import com.amazonaws.AmazonWebServiceRequest;
 import com.amazonaws.HttpMethod;
 import com.amazonaws.regions.Region;
+import com.amazonaws.services.s3.AbstractAmazonS3;
 import com.amazonaws.services.s3.AmazonS3;
 import com.amazonaws.services.s3.S3ClientOptions;
 import com.amazonaws.services.s3.S3ResponseMetadata;
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 
 @SuppressForbidden(reason = "implements AWS api that uses java.io.File!")
-public class AmazonS3Wrapper implements AmazonS3 {
+public class AmazonS3Wrapper extends AbstractAmazonS3 {
 
     protected AmazonS3 delegate;
 
@@ -126,7 +127,6 @@ public AmazonS3Wrapper(AmazonS3 delegate) {
         this.delegate = delegate;
     }
 
-
     @Override
     public void setEndpoint(String endpoint) {
         delegate.setEndpoint(endpoint);
diff --git a/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AwsS3ServiceImplTests.java b/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AwsS3ServiceImplTests.java
index 9863402ec37c1..f85f2eb6f322f 100644
--- a/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AwsS3ServiceImplTests.java
+++ b/plugins/repository-s3/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/repositories/s3/AwsS3ServiceImplTests.java
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ private void assertCredentials(Settings singleRepositorySettings, Settings setti
     }
 
     public void testAWSDefaultConfiguration() {
-        launchAWSConfigurationTest(Settings.EMPTY, Settings.EMPTY, Protocol.HTTPS, null, -1, null, null, 3, false,
-            ClientConfiguration.DEFAULT_SOCKET_TIMEOUT);
+        launchAWSConfigurationTest(Settings.EMPTY, Settings.EMPTY, Protocol.HTTPS, null, -1, null, null, 3,
+            ClientConfiguration.DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RETRIES, ClientConfiguration.DEFAULT_SOCKET_TIMEOUT);
     }
 
     public void testAWSConfigurationWithAwsSettings() {
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ public void testAWSConfigurationWithAwsSettings() {
             .put("s3.client.default.read_timeout", "10s")
             .build();
         launchAWSConfigurationTest(settings, Settings.EMPTY, Protocol.HTTP, "aws_proxy_host", 8080, "aws_proxy_username",
-            "aws_proxy_password", 3, false, 10000);
+            "aws_proxy_password", 3, ClientConfiguration.DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RETRIES, 10000);
     }
 
     public void testRepositoryMaxRetries() {
@@ -119,15 +119,14 @@ public void testRepositoryMaxRetries() {
             .put("s3.client.default.max_retries", 5)
             .build();
         launchAWSConfigurationTest(settings, Settings.EMPTY, Protocol.HTTPS, null, -1, null,
-            null, 5, false, 50000);
+            null, 5, ClientConfiguration.DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RETRIES, 50000);
     }
 
     public void testRepositoryThrottleRetries() {
-        Settings settings = Settings.builder()
-            .put("s3.client.default.use_throttle_retries", true)
-            .build();
-        launchAWSConfigurationTest(settings, Settings.EMPTY, Protocol.HTTPS, null, -1, null,
-            null, 3, true, 50000);
+        final boolean throttling = randomBoolean();
+
+        Settings settings = Settings.builder().put("s3.client.default.use_throttle_retries", throttling).build();
+        launchAWSConfigurationTest(settings, Settings.EMPTY, Protocol.HTTPS, null, -1, null, null, 3, throttling, 50000);
     }
 
     private void launchAWSConfigurationTest(Settings settings,