To commemorate the first anniversary since the signing of the AUKUS Optimal Pathway agreement in San Diego, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have issued a statement reiterating the importance of the pact to regional stability and security.
The Optimal Pathway is the name given to the arrangement for Australia to acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy, through AUKUS.
The signing followed an 18-month consultation period, and took place on March 13, 2023.
In a joint statement on March 22, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, UK Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps, and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin claimed the plan “will strengthen our three countries’ combined military capabilities, boost our collective industrial capacity, set the highest non-proliferation standard, and enhance our ability to promote stability and security in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”
“AUKUS is built on the bedrock of decades of close defence, capability, and technology cooperation between our three nations and is a natural progression of our partnership,” they said.
They announced that ASC Pty Ltd and BAE Systems will build Australia’s submarines, with ASC chosen to maintain Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines.
“BAE Systems has been at the heart of the UK’s submarine enterprise for generations,” the leaders noted, adding, “ASC has been at the centre of Australia’s submarine program for decades as the builder of [its] Collins-class submarines.”
“ASC will develop robust industry partnerships with UK and US businesses to gain the technical skills, know-how, and capacity to sustain nuclear-powered submarines.”
The submarines will be equipped for intelligence, surveillance, undersea warfare, and strike missions, and will provide maximum interoperability among AUKUS partners.
The submarine building program, elements of which will take place in all three partner countries, will “increase opportunities for industrial base collaboration, strengthen our collective industrial base capacity, and generate economic growth in defence and national security sectors in all three countries,” the statement said.
It also revealed details of each nation’s contribution to the program.
Australia has agreed to a $1.5 billion (US$980 million) investment for early priority works at HMAS Stirling to facilitate the safe and secure rotational presence of United Kingdom and United States nuclear-powered submarines from 2027.
It has also commenced preparatory works at the future nuclear-powered submarine construction yard at Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide.
In total, Australia has committed at least $18 billion (US$11.8 billion) in infrastructure upgrades across South Australia and Western Australia over the next 10 years to enable critical milestones for the Optimal Pathway.
The United States has announced the intended investment of $17.4 billion (US$11.4 billion) in its submarine industrial base across the five-year defence budget period starting in 2025, aiming to increase the production rate of Virginia class submarines as quickly and effectively as possible to meet its own fleet requirements and support US commitments under AUKUS.
Additionally, the UK also announced last year that it would inject $5.8 billion (GBP£3 billion, US$3.8 billion) into its Defence Nuclear Enterprise, including the construction of infrastructure that will help deliver the submarine program.
Subsequently, Rolls-Royce has announced that it will double the size of its Derby site to support the delivery of the UK and Australian programs, which will include building all of Australia’s nuclear reactors.
The three partner nations “remain fully committed to this shared endeavour.”
“These steps to grow Australia’s submarine construction and maintenance capability are critical to the AUKUS partnership, expanding trilateral industrial capacity and building the collective resilience of AUKUS partners to produce and sustain conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come,” the statement said.
