Daily London
The Pentagon has finished its review of the AUKUS defence pact between Australia, the US and UK, confirming it aims to proceed with the agreement.
Under the $368 billion deal, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered, but not nuclear-armed, submarines to help confront China’s rising military power in the Indo-Pacific.
Today, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the US still aims to “move forward with the historic and ambitious AUKUS agenda”.
Earlier this year, US officials announced they were reviewing the terms of the agreement, signed by the three allies in 2021, amid concerns it did not meet US President Donald Trump’s “America first” policies.
Parnell said the review identified “opportunities to put AUKUS on the strongest possible footing”.
No details of what these were were provided.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said yesterday the federal government had received the document, but gave no information about its contents.
US Congressman Joe Courtney, a key backer of AUKUS in Washington DC, said in a media release the report “fully endorses” the tri-nation agreement.
A member of the House Armed Services Committee that had received the review, he said AUKUS was in harmony with Trump’s defence and security policies.
“It is important to note that the 2021 AUKUS agreement has now survived three changes of government in all three nations and still stands strong,” said Courtney.
He said the current policy of Australia receiving three US-built Virginia nuclear submarines by the next decade was on track.
But Courtney also said the findings of the report highlighted “critical deadlines” all three countries must achieve to ensure success.
