Australia is confident of proceeding with plans to buy nuclear-powered submarines from the US as the Pentagon nears finalising its review of the AUKUS military pact.
The US will not make any changes to the trilateral military agreement with Australia and the UK, a report from Nikkei Asia says.
A senior US defence official has been investigating the deal to sell nuclear submarines to Australia, to ensure it aligns with President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda.
The review by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby sparked speculation Mr Trump could be preparing to walk away from the deal.
Nikkei Asia reported the review would finish before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s much anticipated visit to the White House on October 20, and no decision has been made to change the submarine agreement.
“AUKUS is safe,” one official from a member country told the outlet.
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles would not be drawn on the report but said the military deal would go ahead.
“AUKUS is happening, that’s not in question,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne on Tuesday.
Mr Marles said he would not get ahead of himself because the review was still under way, but was “very confident” about the deal.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces pressure to secure Mr Trump’s public commitment to AUKUS when he travels to Washington DC in October, and the agreement is likely to be high on the agenda when the leaders sit down for talks.
Under “pillar one” of the AUKUS pact, the US has promised to sell at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia from the early 2030s.
Australia plans to start construction of its own nuclear submarines in Adelaide by the end of the 2020s.
Questions remain around US and UK capacity to contribute to the scheme, given both countries struggle to meet their own goals for submarine production.
Australian National University maritime security expert Jennifer Parker said concerns about manufacturing capacity were overblown.
“Numbers on paper doesn’t make an operational capability,” she told AAP.
Ms Parker also said she wasn’t surprised by reports the White House would continue with AUKUS.
“I don’t believe countries do things for altruistic reasons … each of the three partners has agreed to AUKUS because it is in their strategic interest,” she said.
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