Australia will spend up to $368 billion to deliver the landmark AUKUS deal, which will culminate in homemade nuclear submarines by 2040.
The largest industrial venture in the country’s history will be announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego, along with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden.
The program includes at least three submarines to be purchased in the US, upgrades to extend the life of the existing fleet, and at least five UK-designed vessels incorporating US technology to be built in Adelaide by 2040.
The SSN-AUKUS will be similar to the existing US Virginia class submarine as it will have a US nuclear reactor – which will be built in the UK.
Over the life of the project, it will create more than 20,000 direct jobs, with total costs expected to be between $268 billion and $368 billion by 2054/55.
To close the capacity gap, the life of some of Australia’s current Collins-class submarines is being extended so that the fleet remains “operationally capable and available” into the 2040s.
Australia will purchase between three and five Virginia-class submarines from the United States from early next decade to be based out of Perth.
Australia’s first SSN-AUKUS submarines will be delivered in early 2040, years after the UK delivered its first ships.
The AUKUS Timeline
From this year, Australian military and civilian personnel will be conscripted into the US Navy and Royal Navy, and UK and US submarine industrial bases to train Australian personnel.
The US plans to expand more nuclear-powered submarine visits to Australian ports this year, with Australian sailors joining US crews.
From 2026, the UK will increase visits to Australia.
As early as 2027, up to four US Virginia-class submarines and one British nuclear ship will begin rotations of their nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, from Perth.
In the early 2030s, around 2033 – pending US Congressional approval – the US will sell at least three Virginia-class submarines, with the potential to purchase two more.
The UK will deliver its first SSN-AUKUS in the late 2030s.
In the early 2030s, Australia will deliver its first SSN-AUKUS, built at South Australia’s Submarine Construction Yard in Adelaide.
What are the costs?
The project is expected to cost between $268 billion and $368 billion by 2054/55.
On forward estimates, the cost will be about $9 billion. At least $3 billion of that will go to the US to ensure they can produce enough submarines for Australia.
The remaining $6 billion will be spent in Australia, mainly in South Australia and Western Australia, to begin ramping up their own shipbuilding and infrastructure maintenance.
In the medium term (the 10 years to 2032-33), the program will cost between $50 and $58 billion.
In the longer term, until the 2050s, it will cost an average of about 0.15 percent of GDP per year.
What does the SSN-AUKUS look like?
By the 2040s, Australia will have built and started delivering the SSN-AUKUS submarine – the same ship the UK will have in the water a few years earlier.
The crew size will be approximately 100.
The next-generation UK-designed vessel will feature technology from all three countries, including cutting-edge US technology.
It will have a US nuclear reactor, which will be built in the UK.
The ship will also feature a joint US-Australian combat system – already on the Collins – and a US-Australian heavyweight torpedo
They will have American nuclear propulsion systems and components, and combat systems.
Originally published as The Details of the Massive AUKUS Submarine Deal Revealed Today
