The design for the nuclear-powered submarine that will eventually be built in Australia is already “mature,” and should be locked in within the next 12 to 24 months, the U.K. Royal Navy’s second in command said April 8.
As part of the AUKUS agreement, the United States and the United Kingdom are sharing their know-how on building and operating nuclear-powered submarines with Australia so it can eventually build its own fleet as a bulwark against China. The deal calls for the United States to sell Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines — two used and one new — to Australia while that nation prepares to build up its industrial base to the point where it can manufacture and sustain the SSN AUKUS in the 2040s. Australia will eventually sail eight of its own boats and three U.S. subs. The first AUKUS boat will be built in the United Kingdom.
Since the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy have been cooperating on the technology since the 1960s designing a new “best in class” nuclear-powered submarine is not a stretch, Vice Adm. Martin Connell, the Royal Navy’s second sea lord, said at the Navy’ League’s Sea-Air-Space conference at National Harbor, Maryland.
“We have decades’ worth of experience of technology transfer with the United States. So, it’s building on that,” Connell said in an AUKUS panel.
