US lawmakers from both parties are urging the Trump administration to maintain the AUKUS security partnership, as the Pentagon reviews the agreement and considers the questions it has raised about the American industrial infrastructure’s shipbuilding capabilities.
The US Defence Department is reviewing AUKUS, the four-year-old pact that will see the US sell three to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, with the first to be delivered as soon as 2032.
The US Defence Department is reviewing the AUKUS agreement.Credit: Nathan Perri
The Trump administration is looking closely at a partnership that many believe is critical to the US strategy to push back China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. The review is expected to be completed in the coming months.
“AUKUS is essential to strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and advancing the undersea capabilities that will be central to ensuring peace and stability,” Republican representative John Moolenaar of Michigan and Democratic representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois wrote in a July 22 letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Moolenaar chairs the House panel on China and Krishnamoorthi is its top Democrat.
The review is being led by Elbridge Colby, the No. 3 Pentagon official, who has expressed scepticism about the partnership.
“If we can produce the attack submarines in sufficient number and sufficient speed, then great. But if we can’t, that becomes a very difficult problem,” Colby said during his confirmation hearing in March.
“This is getting back to restoring our defence industrial capacity so that we don’t have to face these awful choices but rather can be in a position where we can produce not only for ourselves, but for our allies.”
AP
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