Congress approves Australian sub purchases
Australian Naval Institute
9 December 2023
Australia is set to acquire its first nuclear-powered submarine by 2032 after key members of the United States Congress agreed to fast-track legislation to advance the AUKUS pact, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Democratic congressman Joe Courtney, co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus, said the US was poised to “defy the odds” by transferring its top secret, nuclear-powered submarine technology to another nation for the first time in over 60 years.
“I’m very relieved,” said Courtney, who is regarded as one of US Congress’ top experts on shipbuilding and submarines. “This is a very significant accomplishment for all the parties involved. A lot of people have been holding their breath to see whether Congress takes this seriously.”
The AUKUS submarine plan hit trouble in July when 23 Republican senators, including Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, wrote to US President Joe Biden saying they did not support the proposal to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia unless the US doubled its own domestic production capacity.
The Senate and House armed services committees on Friday unveiled the final version of the annual National Defence Authorisation Act, which includes a provision for Australia to acquire three nuclear-powered submarines from the United States.
The bill will also loosen defence export controls on Australia and the United Kingdom while allowing Australia to be treated as a domestic supplier of key materials such as rare earths.
The full report is here.