Page 6 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2023

6 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
APRIL 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
AUKUS DETAILS UNVEILED
LEFT: US Los Angeles-class submarine USS Asheville in Perth following the international AUKUS announcement
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
DESCRIBED by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as “the country’s biggest-ever investment in Australia’s defence capabili- ties”, details released on the AUKUS part- nership on nuclear-powered submarines explain why.
Speaking alongside US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Su- nak in San Diego on 14 March, PM Al- banese declared AUKUS was more than just the UK and US sharing “their most advanced submarine capability”.
“It’s also about drawing and building on the expertise within our three nations so that we can achieve things greater than the sum of our parts,” he said.
As explained in an AUKUS briefing pa- per, Australia’s own nuclear submarine capability will be achieved via a phased approach, beginning this year when the US plans to increase nuclear-powered submarine visits to Australian ports, with Australian sailors joining US crews for training and development. The UK will in- crease port visits to Australia from 2026.
(Coincidentally or not, the US Los An- geles-class submarine USS Asheville was visiting HMAS Stirling on the day of the announcement).
The current year will also involve Aus- tralian military and civilian personnel embedding with the US Navy, the UK Royal Navy, and subject to any necessary arrangements, within US and UK subma- rine shipyards.
As early as 2027 the UK and US plan to establish a rotational presence at HMAS Stirling of one UK Astute-class submarine and up to four US Virginia-class boats, with Australian sailors joining US crews for training and development. This initia- tive will be known as Submarine Rotation- al Force-West (SRF-West).
(Mr Albanese disclosed that Australian submariners were already undergoing nuclear power training in the US. “I’m proud to confirm that they are all in the top 30 per cent of their class,” he noted).
Pending Congressional approval, in the early 2030s the US will sell Australia three Virginia-class submarines, with the potential to sell two more if required.
This will ensure there is no capability gap between the retirement of the RAN’s Collins-class fleet through to the early 2040s and the delivery in the 2040s of up to eight SSN-AUKUS, a trilaterally-de- veloped submarine based on an evolution of the SSN(R) design of the UK’s Astute- class replacement.
The type will be the future attack sub-
marine for both Australia and the UK, and will be built in both countries.
SSN-AUKUS will incorporate Virginia- class and other advanced US technology in- cluding propulsion plant systems and com- ponents, a common vertical launch system and weapons. The AUKUS partners will also develop a joint combat system building on the AN/BYG-1 combat system already de- ployed on Virginia and Collins-class boats.
The UK will begin construction of its first SSN-AUKUS in Barrow-in-Furness as early as the late 2020s and intends to de- liver its first boat to the UK Royal Navy in the late 2030s.
Australia will start building its first SSN-AUKUS by the end of this decade – later because it does not have an existing submarine construction facility – deliver- ing the first Australian-built boat to the RAN in the early 2040s.
Enabling works on the future submarine construction yard in Osborne costing $2 billion over the next four years will begin later this year. The facility will be almost three times larger than the yard proposed for the terminated Attack-class program.
One submarine will be built every two years from the early 2040s through to the late 2050s, with five SSN-AUKUS boats deliv- ered to the RAN by the middle of the 2050s.
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