Sydney: The United States has been assured access to defence facilities in Western Australia that are being developed to support nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS submarine deal, Defence Minister Richard Marles has said that.
The Australian government has allocated AUD 12 billion (USD 8 billion) to upgrade the Henderson shipyard near Perth, a programme set to span two decades. The initiative aims to turn the facility into the central maintenance hub for Australia’s upcoming fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
The AUKUS partnership, established in 2021 between Australia, Britain, and the United States, has been designed to provide Canberra with attack submarines from the next decade in response to China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Under the agreement, Washington is scheduled to sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, followed by the joint development of a new AUKUS-class submarine with Britain.
Marles has said that the shipyard expansion is being carried out in the context of AUKUS and that it would also accommodate allied vessels. “This is about being able to sustain and maintain Australia’s future submarines but it is very much a facility that is being built in the context of AUKUS. I would expect that in the future this would be available to the US,” Marles added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that before the arrival of Virginia-class submarines, the facility would host a rotation of US and UK vessels. Albanese has said that this arrangement would deliver significant strategic benefits for allied forces under the AUKUS framework.
The government had already made an initial investment of 127 million last year to commence upgrades at Henderson. Along with submarine maintenance, the shipyard will produce landing craft for the Australian Army and general-purpose frigates for the Navy, generating an estimated 10,000 local jobs.
Despite ongoing debate in the US regarding the future of the agreement, Australian officials remain confident. Marles has stated that discussions in Washington with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other officials conveyed positive sentiment towards the progress of AUKUS. Bipartisan support has also been expressed in the US Congress, with committee leaders backing the trilateral security initiative.
Australia and Britain further strengthened the alliance in July by signing a treaty to deepen AUKUS cooperation for the next 50 years. Canberra has maintained that the pact, valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, remains firmly on track.
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