Australia ramps up Aukus funding with US$3.2 billion for nuclear submarine yard

Australia ramps up Aukus funding with US$3.2 billion for nuclear submarine yard

Aukus, designed to check China’s military advance in the Indo-Pacific, is expected to cost Canberra up to US$250 billion over 30 years

But the deal has faced scrutiny over whether slow submarine production rates in the United States and Britain will leave Australia without the vessels it needs.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the additional investment of A$4.6 billion (US$3.2 billion) at a shipyard in Osborne in South Australia “demonstrates that Aukus is on track and happening now”.

“This investment is another important step in building the sovereign capability Australia will need to build, operate, maintain and sustain our future submarine fleet,” he said.

The money will go to new infrastructure and the training of workers. The planned submarine construction yard will be 10 times the size of the current shipyard, which is already building surface ships for the navy, according to Peter Malinauskas, the premier of South Australia.