A Virginia-class attack boat is in Perth, Australia for a port visit as part of the ongoing AUKUS partnership that’s gearing up to base U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines out of Western Australia.
USS Minnesota (SSN-783) pulled into HMAS Stirling on Tuesday for training with Royal Australian Navy sailors, according to a news release from Naval Sea Systems Command’s AUKUS program office.
“This year, USS Minnesota (SSN 783) is conducting at-sea operations as part of the Submarine Command Course, a training program for naval officers preparing to take command of a submarine,” the release reads. “At HMAS Stirling, the U.S. Navy will have the opportunity to share and compare procedures, such as weapons handling, with their Australian counterparts.”
Under the AUKUS pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, the U.S. and U.K. plan to start basing nuclear-powered attack boats out of Perth in 2027.
“Every time a nuclear-powered submarine ties up in HMAS Stirling, we take a meaningful step closer to establishing Submarine Rotational Force – West and a sovereign conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarine capability for Australia,” RAN Rear Adm. Tom Phillips, who leads submarine capability for the Australian Submarine Agency, said in a statement. “Each visit is unique with specific goals and objectives designed to ensure we are moving at pace to host the first rotational U.S. attack submarine in late 2027.”
The port visit comes six months after a Virginia-class submarine came to Perth for the first maintenance availability of a U.S. nuclear-powered attack boat on foreign soil. USS Hawaii (SSN-776) and submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) spent several weeks in Perth in August and September as RAN and U.S. sailors wrenched on the boat for a maintenance overhaul. The availability allowed the U.S. and Australia to test ongoing exchanges between their two navies and provided the RAN sailors with real-life experience maintaining a nuclear-powered boat, USNI News reported at the time.
During Hawaii‘s visit to Perth, the Australian government announced it would hire 200 people for apprenticeships in preparation for the rotational force coming to HMAS Stirling. The basing of boats out of Perth and the ongoing exchanges are part of the overall goal to help Australia develop and maintain an indigenous nuclear-powered submarine capability by the 2040s.
“Minnesota is the fourth U.S. submarine to execute an AUKUS-specific port visit to HMAS Stirling since the Optimal Pathway announcement,” reads the Navy news release. The optimal pathway is a reference to the three-pronged approach of the AUKUS Pillar I initiative that will help Australia pursue its own nuclear-powered attack boat capability. The first prong is the 2027 rotational force out of Perth, followed by the U.S. selling a minimum of three but up to five Virginia-class boats to Australia. The final stage is in the 2040s, when Australia and the United Kingdom finish building the SSN AUKUS boat.
“USS North Carolina (SSN-777) conducted the first visit in August 2023, USS Annapolis (SSN 760) visited in March 2024 and, most recently, USS Hawaii (SSN 776) visited HMAS Stirling in August through September 2024,” the release continues.
