
The White Houseās senior coordinator for the Indo-Pacific is “confident” that Australia, the United Kingdom and United States can meet the challenge of Canberra fielding its own nuclear-powered submarine force.
Speaking Monday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Kurt Campbell said that after 18 months of intense study and discussion, āwe have the necessary understandingā of what must be done to build and maintain the submarines and also to explore technology transfers among the three allies.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said the conversations among the three naviesā leaderships over the last 18 monthsĀ were candid in judging risk, seeing how the arrangement was progressing and where it wasnāt moving as fast as expected.
āWe donāt underestimate difficulties that can lie ahead,ā Gilday said.
He added that the military-to-military discussions can provide a āshock absorberā in addressing later challenges.
The U.S. hasĀ 80 years of history in developing, deploying and maintaining nuclear-powered submarines, which means āthis is not starting from scratchā from the United Statesā standpoint, Campbell said. Itās āa legacy Australia can draw onā in developing the infrastructure needed, training a workforce to build and maintain nuclear-powered submarines and training sailors for safe operations.
Gilday cited Vice Adm. Hyman Rickoverās reminder of the Navyās dedication to safety following the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in March 1979.
āWe have never wavered from them,ā he said of Rickoverās original safety requirements for a nuclear Navy. The key is āstaying true to [the standards] and holding each other accountable.ā Doing those two things ācan keep you out of trouble.ā
Gilday added that the first Australians will graduate next week from the Navyās Nuclear Power School in Charleston, S.C.
āThese guys are excelling,ā all above the median in class standing, Campbell said.Ā āWe have high confidence we can help [the Royal Australian Navy] along this path.ā
Gilday called the agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, known as AUKUS, āa natural next step.ā He said the three nations are taking a phased approach in moving from interoperability to interchangeability.
In the future, four U.S. submarines could deploy from Perth as the nuclear āeco-system,ā his phrase, is operating in Australia. āItās not something that happens overnight,” the CNO said.
āWeāve never taken a step like this before,ā Campbell added. āThis is a long-term partnershipā that will extend beyond the 30 years it’s expected to field the first Australian nuclear-powered, but conventionally armed submarine. AUKUS also signals to other allies like Japan, Korea and the Philippines and partners like Singapore that Washington āis going to play a powerful role in the Pacific now and into the future.ā
Asked where the two submarines the United States has said it will provide Australia in the interim will come from, Gilday said, āitās too early to give you an answer.”

āWeāre aspirational on two [Virginia-class] submarinesā being built each year, Gilday said. General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII Newport News Shipbuilding are making progress on meeting the two sub requirement.
Campbell found it ātroubling, the number of subs in dry dockā waiting for and undergoing prolonged repair, referring to Los Angeles-class submarines like USS Boise (SSN-764), which has waited years for repairs because of backlogs at the public and private shipyards.
On the AUKUS agreement’s second pillar, technology transfer, Gilday and Campbell saw great potential for working with other close allies in artificial intelligence, anti-submarine warfare and unmanned systems.
āThe key will be āwhat do you bring to the tableāā when nations like France and New Zealand indicate they want to explore technological exchange with the United States, as well as with the United Kingdom and Australia, Campbell said.
āWatch this space,ā he added.
As for the three AUKUS partners, Campbell said they are ācataloguing particular areas we might build uponā to benefit each other.
Gilday said this fall that the U.K. and Australia will join in a major exercise involving unmanned systems and AI. He added that the U.S. is continuing to use unmanned systems and AI with U.S. 5th Fleetās Task Force 59 to see how they could fit into operations. U.S. Southern Command will do the same work with unmanned platforms to help nations in that region combat drug and human trafficking and illegal fishing.
āI have every indication this [commitment to AUKUS] will be sustainedā in the three nations as administrations change, Campbell said. He saw bipartisan support for it continuing in future congresses as a means to deter Chinaās ambitions and maintain stability and security in the Indo-Pacific.