By Zarak Khan | 2025-12-18

Defense chiefs from the United States, Australia and Britain have renewed their push to produce nuclear-powered attack submarines under the AUKUS security partnership. They recently highlighted the pact's major role in countering China's rapidly expanding military reach across the Indo-Pacific.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth on December 10 hosted Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and UK Secretary of State for Defense John Healey for the annual AUKUS Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Pentagon, where the three leaders reaffirmed their "shared commitment to the AUKUS partnership."

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the three defense leaders said they had discussed "ways to continue to strengthen AUKUS" and agreed to provide more "pace and focus on delivery" to ensure the partnership's long-term success.

While the AUKUS partnership spans a range of advanced defense technologies, its most strategically significant pillar remains Australia's planned acquisition of nuclear-powered attack submarines.

Reflecting a shared determination to move "full steam ahead" with AUKUS, the senior defense officials acknowledged ongoing efforts to "deliver priority infrastructure and workforce uplift in support of an enhanced trilateral submarine industrial base."

Up to 5 nuclear-powered subs in 15 years

Under the submarine component of the pact, Australia is to acquire at least three Virginia-class submarines from the United States within 15 years, with the option to purchase up to five.

Canberra announced its plans to deliver its next $1 billion payment to expanding US submarine production capacity.

With that payment, Australia's contribution to the US submarine industrial base totals $2 billion so far.

Explaining the move, Marles said that the investment aims at "improving both the production and sustainment rates" of the US industrial base for "Virginia-class submarines going into the United States Navy."

London announced a £6 billion ($8 billion) investment in critical infrastructure at Barrow and Derby, two strategic industrial hubs for the United Kingdom's role in the AUKUS partnership's nuclear-powered submarine programme.

This investment will create "the ability to construct a new AUKUS submarine every 18 months," according to the British Ministry of Defense.

Continuous submarine production under AUKUS is expected to deliver up to 12 attack submarines to Britain, the ministry said.

China has consistently criticized AUKUS, arguing that it opposes bloc-based confrontation and "anything that amplifies the risk of nuclear proliferation and exacerbates [the] arms race."

China's rapid buildup

However, Beijing's objections to regional military actions lack credibility given the scale and pace of its own military buildup, defense analysts say.

This growth is centered on beefing up the People's Liberation Army Navy, which now boasts "more than 370 battle-force ships, around 70% launched in just the past decade," according to Indo-Pacific security analyst Jennifer Parker, writing in The Interpreter in November.

China has substantially increased its submarine fleet, launched multiple aircraft carriers, and deployed long-range missiles capable of striking ships and bases throughout contested waterways.

China's activities "around Taiwan and increasingly assertive behaviour towards Australian and other nations' ships and aircraft in the South China Sea underscore the risks," Parker wrote in her November analysis for the Lowy Institute.

In light of this global instability and China's considerable military power, Australia's task in protecting its national interests may seem "daunting," she said.

"But the answer is not to try to match China's military strength. It begins with understanding what those interests are, where Australia's vulnerabilities lie, and how best to protect them in the event of a crisis or conflict," Parker added.

In this context, the AUKUS submarine program could serve as "a deterrent to Beijing's military ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region," estimated by the Australian Financial Review to cost approximately 368 billion AUD ($245 billion) over the coming decades for building, maintenance and infrastructure.

The AUKUS push has gained urgency from a series of recent confrontations between China and US allies.

In October, Australia formally protested to China after a Chinese fighter jet released flares dangerously close to an Australian air force plane conducting routine surveillance over the South China Sea.

Canberra described the encounter as "unsafe and unprofessional," saying it occurred in international airspace near the disputed Paracel Islands.

The encounter was not an isolated event; in February, Australia similarly criticized a Chinese jet for releasing flares near a Poseidon surveillance aircraft.