Australia working through Pentagon AUKUS review
Australia is working on details of the Pentagon’s review of AUKUS, which gave the green light to the nuclear submarine deal.
The highly anticipated review took six months to complete and was handed over to the Australian government; Details are not expected to be made public by the United States.
Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy stated that US President Donald Trump’s statement that AUKUS is “in full swing” was positive, adding that the milestones of the agreement were met.
“I have copies in hand and we are working on it steadily and methodically at the moment,” he told ABC RN on Friday.
“We are meeting all major milestones (of the agreement), including the docking of the submarine USS Vermont in Western Australia last month.”
Mr Conroy said the government had briefed the Trump administration on the biggest overhaul of Australia’s Defense departments in 50 years, announced earlier this week.
This change will establish an independent Defense delivery agency to ensure billions of dollars are spent well and major projects are delivered on time.
This agency is separate from the Australian Submarine Agency, which is responsible for the delivery of ships under AUKUS.
Mr Conroy also announced Australia would begin missile production this month following the opening of a factory in Port Wakefield, South Australia.
“This is the first time a factory has been built outside the United States and only the second in the world to produce these really important missiles,” he said.
The factory will be able to produce 300 guided multi-barreled rocket system missiles per year.
“This is not just to meet our needs, but also to potentially export to places like the United States and our other allies,” Mr. Conroy said.
The completion of the Pentagon’s review comes just days before Defense Secretary Richard Marles and Secretary of State Penny Wong travel to Washington for annual talks with their US counterparts.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday that the review identified opportunities to put the agreement on “the strongest possible foundation.”
Concerns about whether AUKUS would still go ahead were eased when Mr. Trump signaled support for the program during a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House in October.
Canberra has committed to spending $368 billion over three decades on the programme.
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