The US Navy’s decision to cut submarine production to 2025 has raised concerns among supporters and opponents of the AUKUS defense deal.
US President Joe Biden reduced the number of nuclear-powered submarines from two to one that the Navy will buy in 2025 in his budget request.
As it struggles to maintain the current pace of new launches, the Navy must now accelerate shipbuilding to offset the imminent sale of three Virginia-class fast attack submarines, armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles, to Australia by the end of the decade. .
Connecticut Democratic Representative and co-chair of the AUKUS Caucus in Congress, Joe Courtney, criticized the Navy’s decision, saying it “makes little to no sense,” especially considering the submarine fleet is already below planned strength at 17 vessels. .
“Given the new commitment the Department of Defense and Congress made last year to sell three submarines to our ally Australia, which we enthusiastically support, the ramifications of the Navy’s proposal will have a profound impact on the navies of both countries,” Courtney told reporters.
Australian politicians attacked the White House over the production cut. “The failure is almost too big for you to understand,” Australian Greens senator David Shoebridge posted on X (formerly Twitter), accusing the Biden administration of budgeting “for US needs but no one else’s.”
US Navy Chief Financial Officer Mike McCord said at a briefing that ordering just one Virginia-class submarine next year was a “management decision.”
He pointed out the current backlog of more than a dozen submarines with significant delays. The announcement of the trilateral security partnership on 15 September 2021 quickly led the US and UK to look at Canberra’s AU$90 billion contract with French shipyards for a fleet of conventionally powered submarines.
Along with the nuclear sub-purchase, the AUKUS treaty included promises to share advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
However, defense experts have expressed skepticism about the deal’s viability, including Australian National University professor emeritus Hugh White, a former defense adviser.
“I think the chance of the plan unfolding effectively is extremely low,” White said in an interview with ABC RN’s Global Roaming.
The expert questioned the need for nuclear-powered submarines, highlighting their high cost and operational complications, and warned of Australia’s growing dependence on the United Kingdom and the USA.
Allan Behm, director of the Australia Institute’s international and security affairs program, expressed reservations about the viability of the deal.
He warned that the Royal Australian Navy’s lack of experience in operating and maintaining nuclear-powered submarines could lead to the depletion of its resources.