Guidance

AUKUS Trilateral statement: 22 March 2024

Trilateral statement on the AUKUS partnership from the Defence Secretaries of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

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One year ago, the Leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced the Optimal Pathway, an ambitious plan to deliver a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability (SSNs) for the Royal Australian Navy.

AUKUS is built on the bedrock of decades of close defence, capability and technology cooperation between our three nations, and is a natural progression of our partnership. Today, AUKUS partners welcomed the announcement of the selection of ASC Pty Ltd and BAE Systems to build Australia’s SSN-AUKUS submarines, and the selection of ASC as Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine sustainment partner.

Read the full announcement here

Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States remain fully committed to this shared endeavour. These steps to grow Australia’s submarine construction and maintenance capability are critical to the AUKUS partnership, expanding trilateral industrial capacity and building the collective resilience of AUKUS partners to produce and sustain conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come.

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Published 21 March 2024

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