Smith and Cummins will lead Australia's attempt to retain the urn.
Pat Cummins will be Australia's Test captain and Steve Smith will be his deputy.
Tim Paine stepped down as captain on Friday due to a historical investigation into sexually explicit texts to a female colleague.
Smith was sacked as captain for his part in illegal ball-tampering.
Cummins said he was honoured to accept the role ahead of the summer.
Tim has given the group leadership in the past and I hope I can do the same.
A number of very senior players in this squad and some great young talent coming through are a strong and tightly knit group.
The series starts on December 8.
Cummins is the second specialist fast bowler to lead Australia in Tests after Ray Lindwall in India in 1956. He is the first bowler in 50 years to hold the role.
He admitted that there would be more scrutiny about the position.
He said that he is his own harshest judge when it comes to moral character.
I am not perfect but as long as I can sleep at night, I am really comfortable with the rest of that.
After being banned from the sport for a year and being stripped of his leadership role in Australia, Smith has been promoted to a leadership position.
The ball-tampering plan was admitted by the two men.
The incident drew condemnation from around the world, with Australia's then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull saying it was "shocked and bitterly disappointed" him.
The ban on Smith holding a leadership position expired in March 2020 and he has captained the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian premier league.
Smith said that he is a better leader because he is a more rounded individual.
Cummins said that he was lucky to have Steve Smith with him as VC.
Cummins is the number one Test bowler in the world.
Pat Cummins has taken over 160 kills in 34 Tests for Australia.
In 34 Tests, he has taken 164 of them at an average of 21.59 with five five-star hauls.
Cummins made his Test debut against South Africa at the age of 18 but had to wait six years for his next appearance because of injuries, including stress fractures in his back.
He missed Australia's tour of the U.A.D. to face Pakistan with a back injury, but has been an important part of Australia's attack ever since.
He took 23 in Australia in the most recent series, when the hosts won the series, and 29 in England in the most recent series, when his side drew 2-2 to regain the urn.
Cummins was part of an intimidating pace attack in each of those series, along with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Both Starc and Hazlewood are in the squad, although they are expected to be replaced by Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser.
Cummins is likely to play all five Tests in just 42 days as captain.
Cummins was part of the Australia team that won the T20 World Cup.
