ON MARCH 13th Joe Biden, the president of the United States, together with Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak, the prime ministers of Australia and Britain respectively, gathered in front of the USS Missouri, a nuclear-powered submarine of Virginia in San Diego, California. The three leaders announced a plan for the implementation of AUKUS, an agreement that the three countries signed in September 2021. So what is AUKUS?
The foundations of AUKUS were agreed by the United States and Britain to help Australia build at least eight nuclear-capable—but not armed—attack submarines, known as SSNs (classes which carry international nuclear weapons are known as SSBNs, the “B” stands for “ballistic”). Australia is due to buy diesel-electric submarines from France to replace its current fleet, which is commissioned in the 1990s. But nuclear submarines can stay underwater for a very long time. They can carry conventional missiles, but equally important are their capabilities to gather intelligence and deploy special forces ashore.
The new unit, called SSN-AUKUS, will be jointly designed by Australia and Britain. It will be based on the SSNR, the British next-generation attack submarine, and supplemented by American technology, with vertical tubes that hold weapons. The first sections are to be built in Barrow, England and will be ready by the late 2030s; the first for Australia will be built in Adelaide, although it may not be completed until 2040, and may be based in Port Kembla in New South Wales. The Australian Government estimates that the program will support 8,500 domestic jobs.
The deal also included major changes to the naval posture of the United States and Britain. As a delay, as early as 2027 the United States will deploy Virginia-class attack submarines, rotating up to four of them regularly through HMAS Stirling, a naval base near Perth, on the west coast of Australia. Britain expects to send an Astute-class submarine—14% of its final fleet. Finally, in the early 2030s Australia will buy three to five Virginia-class units to bridge the gap between the retirement of its current fleet and nuclear replacements. That could put a strain on the U.S. Navy, which is struggling to boost productivity.
For Australia, all of this will be what officials describe as “all over the country”. It will have to expand and upgrade HMAS Stirling to take in the new American and British companies, and eventually its own. It will invest money and manpower in American and British shipyards to expand their production. Last year the first Royal Australian Navy personnel entered America’s nuclear-propulsion training program; later this year its crew will be embedded with the American and British navy, gaining experience. “It binds the three of us together in ways that are almost unimaginable for the foreseeable future,” notes one senior American.
AUKUS has raised some non-additional concerns. Australia would become the first country without nuclear weapons to have a nuclear submarine (although India leased one from Russia in the 1980s and 1990s). It will also have to manage radioactive waste once the reactors are removed. China says AUKUS is an “unlawful transfer of nuclear weapons”. But although it is true that the submarines will use highly enriched uranium, the lamps will be welded shut and will not need fuel during the life of the ship. The United Nations Atomic Energy Organization, a UN watchdog, said it would engage in “very complex, technical negotiations” with AUKUS countries to monitor any nuclear risks.
It’s not all about the boats, though. AUKUS is also a broad technical-security agreement. The three countries have established 17 joint working groups; nine of them are about subs, but the rest are related to other advanced military technologies, including underwater drones, quantum technologies for location, navigation and timing (think next-generation GPS) , artificial intelligence, cyber security, hypersonic missiles and electronic warfare. A recent report by the Australian Policy Institute, a think tank, showed that China has a world lead in 37 of 44 key technologies, measured by “high-impact” research papers. The idea is that by pooling talent and resources, whether on submarine construction or AI, America and its allies can compete more effectively and close that gap.
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