Australia confirms United States is “completely supportive of AUKUS” nuclear submarine partnership, Defence Minister Richard Marles announced on Thursday (4 December). This development, reportedly, eased concerns raised when the U.S. administration launched the review in June.
Speaking to the press on Thursday (4 December) Marles said, "We're working through the AUKUS review, and we very much thank the United States for providing it to us," he said.
"What's really important here is the United States is completely supportive of AUKUS," Marles added.
In June 2025, the Financial Times revealed that the U.S. Department of Defense had launched a formal review of AUKUS. The reassessment was being overseen by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, a longtime critic of the pact.
A Pentagon spokesperson later confirmed that the review reflects the Trump administration’s America First approach.
Although early reporting pointed to a 30-day deadline, the review took long as Colby’s office subsequently announced on X that the process would continue into the autumn.
Early concerns that the review would be highly critical eased after the U.S. President Donald Trump’s first in-person meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in October, when he said the project was moving “full steam ahead.”
The delivery of the review documents comes just days before key talks in Washington, where Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet their counterparts, Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio, for the first Australia–U.S. Ministerial meeting since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Launched in September 2021, AUKUS is an enhanced trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The trilateral effort was aimed to define the optimal pathway for Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines made in U.S. and UK according to the Australian Submarine Agency.
Valued at A$368 billion for more than 30 years, including substantial investment in boosting U.S. submarine manufacturing capacity, AUKUS is Australia’s largest defence undertaking to date.
In a separate move aimed at improving delivery of major defence projects, Australia this week announced the creation of a new Defence Delivery Agency that will report directly to ministers to streamline spending and accelerate timelines.
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