The Trump administration has officially approved the first AUKUS submarine contract, financed by a substantial taxpayer-funded payment from the Albanese government. The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that nuclear-powered submarine capabilities will be transferred from the United States to Australia.
Contract Details and Funding
The contract, valued at $276 million ($US197 million), will be covered by the Labor government's initial down payment of $4.2 billion ($US3 billion), as reported by the ABC. The 2021 AUKUS pact aims to counter China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific and involves Australia acquiring Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US by 2032. However, the alliance depends on the US building enough defence vessels domestically before any can be sent to Australia.
Expert Criticism
International politics expert and AUKUS critic Professor Mark Beeson stated that the contract exemplifies Australia's reliance on American productivity. 'We keep forking out money for submarines I'm definitely not going to live to see, and I don't know if young people will live to see them ever arrive,' he told the Daily Mail. 'It's because, famously, the Americans can't build as many as they would like, or consider they need. There's going to be no spare capacity for these submarines.'
Production Challenges
The US Navy has set targets to almost double construction to 2.33 boats per year to build up its fleet, according to the ABC. However, congressional hearings this week revealed that production has slowed to 1.1 boats per year due to construction delays. Professor Beeson has been vocal about his concerns regarding the trilateral deal between Australia, the US, and the UK. 'I think it's possibly the worst investment Australia's ever made in anything, but particularly in defence material,' he said. 'It is doubling down on something that was a bad idea to start with.'
He added, 'The only way to get a more credible-looking outcome for AUKUS is by continuing to supply the Americans and eventually the British with lots of loot to rebuild shipyards and increase the production line for these submarines. If and when submarines ever did arrive, they would be undoubtedly redundant, overtaken by cheap and cheerful anti-submarine drone technology. If we build this base, it will undoubtedly be a prime nuclear target, because who wouldn't want to take out a couple of nuclear-armed submarines from America.'
Contract Award and Political Reactions
The Australian-funded contract has been awarded to US Navy contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat, with construction taking place on American soil at a Connecticut shipyard. The announcement comes just hours after opposition industry spokesman Andrew Hastie said Australia incurred 'strategic trade-offs' in doubling down on its alliance with Washington. 'We forgot the hard lessons of war, and outsourced our security to the United States,' he said at the Robert Menzies Institute in Melbourne on Thursday. 'It has cost us sovereign capabilities like a robust defence industry, and our strategic freedom of action in ways that we are now discovering.'
A former special forces officer, Hastie pointed to the fuel crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict and Australia's de-industrialisation as examples of the nation betting too much on the dominance of the US. He warned that if the security alliance with the US is to endure for another 75 years, Australia needs to urgently invest in its industrial base and defence force. 'We must grow our industrial might and hard power,' he said.
