The Pentagon on Thursday formally endorsed the AUKUS security pact with the United Kingdom and Australia, concluding a five-month review that clears the way for Canberra to acquire at least three US Virginia-class nuclear submarines within 15 years.
The agreement, first signed in 2021 under President Joe Biden, had been under scrutiny after President Donald Trump ordered a reassessment earlier this year.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the review determined the pact was “in alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda,” adding that it also identified ways to strengthen the trilateral project.
“Consistent with President Trump’s guidance that AUKUS should move ‘full steam ahead,’ the review puts the partnership on its strongest possible footing,” Parnell said.
“Rooted in US national security interests”
US Congressman Joe Courtney, the top Democrat on the House Seapower Subcommittee and a key AUKUS supporter, said the review’s completion affirms the submarine plan is firmly rooted in US national security interests.
“It’s important to note that the 2021 AUKUS agreement has now survived three changes of government in all three nations and still stands strong,” he said.
The deal—central to Australia’s push to expand its long-range strike capability in the Pacific—would see submarine sales begin in 2032 and could cost Canberra up to US$235 billion over three decades. It also includes technology transfers that will eventually allow Australia to build its own nuclear-powered submarines.
Australia’s Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy welcomed the US review, saying it confirmed that AUKUS was advancing as planned.
He described the arrangement as a “living agreement” that will evolve over the next thirty to forty years.
Australia’s shift to AUKUS in 2021 triggered a diplomatic rupture with France, after Canberra canceled a multibillion-dollar deal for diesel-powered submarines in favor of the nuclear programme.
