Colby Backs 3-Sub Aukus Sale as US Output Lags at 1.1 to 1.2 Boats a Year
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 13
Colby Backs 3-Sub Aukus Sale as US Output Lags at 1.1 to 1.2 Boats a Year
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 13
Summary
Elbridge Colby said the Aukus submarine pact is "full steam ahead," marking a public endorsement from the Pentagon official who had been seen as skeptical during the Trump administration's review.
Three Virginia-class submarines are slated for sale to Australia from 2032, but Colby tied progress to a post-review "roadmap" and said Washington has made its expectations of Canberra clear in private.
US shipyards are producing only 1.1 to 1.2 Virginia-class boats a year, below the two a year needed for US requirements and the 2.33 rate needed before any submarine can be sold to Australia.
Australia's pathway still stretches into the 2040s and beyond: up to five US boats may be bought first, while domestically built Aukus-class submarines are not due in the water until the early 2040s.
Malcolm Turnbull told an Australian inquiry this week the A$368 billion plan could leave Australia with no submarines, arguing US law bars any transfer that would weaken the American fleet.