US not underestimating Aukus task, confident it will be sustained politically
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US President Joe Biden (centre), Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivered remarks on Aukus at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California in March.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday on Monday said the United States did not underestimate the difficulties ahead in realising a three-nation project to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and still did not know exactly where the initial batch of vessels would come from.
US Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell said at the same Washington event that there was “every indication” the Aukus project would be sustained politically in the US and Australia, and that Washington was talking to a variety of countries about taking part in its so-called second pillar.
The multi-stage Aukus project announced in March
Before that, in the early 2030s, Washington is supposed to sell Canberra three US Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines, with an option for Australia to buy two more.
Big questions remain, however, not least over strict US curbs on the extensive technology sharing needed and about how long it will take to deliver the Virginia-class submarines, given limited US production capacity to meet its own needs, even as the perceived threat posed by China that inspired the project mounts.
Asked at Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies think-tank about the Virginia-class submarines, Adm Gilday said it was “too early to give you an answer on precisely where those submarines will come from, whether that’s excess capacity or whether that comes out of US inventory”.
“We’re trying to put the industrial base in a position where they can increase their productivity,” he said, adding that the priority was production of Columbia-class submarines for the US Navy.
Adm Gilday also said the US was “aspirational at this point” on reaching a production goal of two Virginia Class vessels a year, adding: “I can’t give you a specific date when we expect to close on two, but we’re headed in the right direction.”
He said he saw “huge potential” for other countries to become involved in selected parts of the second pillar of Aukus, which involves hypersonics and other arms that can be deployed more quickly.
This would depend on their ability to “bring technology to bear that is going to make a difference, and that we have high trust and confidence that we can share that information back and forth”.
Mr Campbell said areas for involvement of “some allies and partners” in “either direct or niche areas” of pillar two could include hypersonics, cybersecurity, and anti-submarine warfare. REUTERS
