AUKUS is a security and technology partnership announced on 15 September 2021 by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and US President Joe Biden. Its headline element ("Pillar 1") is a multi-decade pathway to equip the Royal Australian Navy with conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs). A second track ("Pillar 2") covers cooperation on advanced capabilities such as AI, quantum, cyber, hypersonics, and undersea systems.
The submarine pathway was detailed on 13 March 2023 in San Diego by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and President Biden. Under the announced plan, Australia will:
- Host increased rotational visits by US and UK SSNs from 2027 ("Submarine Rotational Force-West" at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia).
- Purchase several Virginia-class submarines from the United States, beginning in the early 2030s, subject to US Congressional approvals.
- Co-develop and build a new class known as SSN-AUKUS, based on a UK next-generation design incorporating US technology, with first delivery to the UK in the late 2030s and to Australia in the early 2040s.
The pact's announcement abruptly cancelled Australia's A$90 billion Attack-class conventional submarine contract with France's Naval Group, triggering a diplomatic rupture with Paris, which briefly recalled its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington.
AUKUS has drawn scrutiny under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It is the first time the naval-reactor exemption under IAEA safeguards (paragraph 14 of INFCIRC/153-type agreements) would be used to transfer highly-enriched-uranium-fuelled reactors to a non-nuclear-weapon state. The IAEA Director General has reported periodically to the Board of Governors on consultations with the three parties. China has formally objected at the IAEA and the UN, framing AUKUS as a proliferation risk and a destabilising element in the Indo-Pacific.
Example
In March 2023, Albanese, Sunak, and Biden met in San Diego to unveil the AUKUS submarine pathway, including Australian purchases of Virginia-class boats and joint development of the SSN-AUKUS class.
Frequently asked questions
No. The submarines are nuclear-powered but conventionally armed. Australia remains a non-nuclear-weapon state under the NPT and has reiterated its commitment to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga).
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