The Deputy Prime Minister has announced a significant shift in the AUKUS deal, with Australia to purchase three second hand nuclear submarines and move to focus on new unmanned underwater drones. The shift comes amid doubts over US capability to produce enough new vessels, prompting concerns that Australia will receive less capable and shorter lasting submarines.
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TRANSCRIPT
In a major shift to the AUKUS submarine deal, Defence Minister Richard Marles says Australia will only purchase second-hand nuclear-powered submarines.
Under the original deal, Australia was set to buy a mix of new and used US submarines, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the early 2030s.
Speaking at a major defence summit in Singapore, Mr Marles says the government will now buy three already-in-service vessels.
Despite assuring that costs will reduce, Mr Marles says there will be no fundamental budget differences to the expected $370 billion deal.
"So, this is a very useful financial contribution to the cost of the overall program. But actually, at the heart of this is chasing simplicity, and it will be really important. And that obviously also kind of has a financial implication in terms of training and servicing. And this is a complicated endeavour in the context of that, simplicity comes at a premium. Being able to have the same class of Virginia-class submarines operating as part of this is really important."
Throughout his second term, United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for allies to increase their defence spending.
As the US struggles to meet its own demands for the Virginia-class submarines, US politicians have questioned the deal's feasibility.
Currently, shipyards in the US produce between 1.1 and 1.2 Virginia-class submarines each year.
That is well below the annual target of 2.33 needed to stay on schedule.
Mr Marles says Australia will make a financial contribution to help the US production rate.
"We're well aware of the challenges in the US industrial base, but we've been aware about that from the very beginning when the optimal pathway was announced back in 2023. And that's why we're making a financial contribution to the US industrial base to help it increase its production rate. But it's also why Australians who are training tradespeople, who are training to work on nuclear-powered submarines, are doing that right now in the US."
As Australia awaits the arrival of the first Virginia-class submarine in 2032, Mr Marles has previously announced that the existing 1980s-designed Collins-class vessels will have their lifespan extended for an additional decade.
These upgrades are expected to cost around $11 billion.
Unlike the 33-year lifespan of a new Virginia-class vessel, the second-hand submarines will have all been in service for years, possibly over a decade.
After the first arrives in 2032, another will arrive every four years, sparking concerns about how many years of service will remain on the final vessel.
Defending the decision, Mr Marles says this deal will produce a more consistent set of vessels.
"What we will have here is a much simpler pathway. It will mean that the Virginia-class submarines that we are acquiring will all be of the same type. And I cannot overstate the significance of that, both in terms of the submariners who are operating them, but also the people who are working on them to sustain those submarines. Chasing simplicity is at the heart of why we have pursued this."
Amid concerns that the shift means Australia gets a less capable vessel with a shorter lifespan, Greens Senator David Shoebridge says this is in no way a win.
"Labor went to Singapore to meet with the US and the UK on AUKUS, and he went there with a promise that we would get a mix of second-hand and new Virginia-class subs from the United States. And he's come away being told by the United States that the only subs on offer are second-hand Virginias. How can you spin that as a win?"
At the end of 2025, the United States completed a review of the AUKUS deal but never made the findings or recommendations public.
Pentagon official Elbridge Colby, who led the review, has previously raised concerns that the US lacks the capacity to spare warships.
While the review has not been confirmed as the cause of the shift, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says it did work to ensure the deal was in line with US capabilities.
"And that's why we did the review the way that we did, is to bring in sure that what we're promising is aligned with what we're able to do, but it's mutually beneficial. Those subs, obviously, in the hands of Australia are important for your defence, but they also add to the combined defence of what we would need to do, heaven forbid, that we're a contingency."
In the backdrop of Asia's highest level defence forum is China's rising economic and military might.
Mr Marles says almost all of Australia's internet traffic flows through just 15 undersea cables, highlighting the country's vulnerability as similar cables around the world are cut, and Russia and China are suspected.
While the nuclear-powered submarines form pillar one, he says the production of UUVs - which are Unmanned Underwater Vehicles - is a critical next step.
In addition to the move to second-hand submarines, Mr Hegseth says UUVs will form the first signature project of pillar two.
"This signature project will deliver a suite of highly adaptable multi-mission UUV payloads designed to support undersea operations and maintain our collective advantage in the maritime domain."
In a joint statement with his counterparts, Mr Marles called the seabed a "battlefield".
"What we need to make sure of is that we are as capable as we can possibly be in the undersea domain. Now that we're talking about having long-range submarines, that's a part of it, but as we look forward, having autonomous undersea capabilities, which are cutting-edge, is absolutely critical for our defence force, for a maritime nation like Australia."
Speaking ahead of the joint press conference, Pete Hegseth told the forum that the US was alarmed by China's military buildup.
"When we look across the region today, there is rightful alarm regarding China's historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond. We share a clear-eyed assessment of that security environment and a mutual understanding that a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power and undermine the equilibrium we all seek to preserve."
In the same speech, he warned that the US would expand American military dominance.
"And it's why President Trump, after spending $1 trillion on defence last year, plans to make a generational investment of 1.5 trillion on defence this year to unleash America's arsenal of freedom and expand America's military dominance for decades to come."
David Shoebridge says the Australian government should be very careful going forward with the alliance.
"The US have said very clearly to Australia, they said it on the record just yesterday, they want Australia to be part of a high-end military conflict. That's what AUKUS is about for the United States. The only high-end military conflict that's on the cards in this region is a US-China war. So, what on earth is Australia doing? What on earth is Labor doing? Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on second-hand Virginia-class subs we're unlikely to ever get, with a basic goal, a core goal for Labor, to involve Australia in a US war on China, with the disaster that will cause to our region, with the disaster that would cause to Australia, and the obscene disaster that would cause to China and North Asia."
