Australia Makes First Payment on Virginia-class Submarines

19 Februari 2025

Australia will receive two Virginia-class Block IV submarines currently in service with the US Navy and the third submarine is a new Block VII unit planned for delivery in 2038 (photo: US Navy)

TSAMTO -- US Defence Minister Pete Hegseth said Australia had made the first payment of $500 million out of a total of $3 billion for the acquisition of the first fourth-generation Virginia-class nuclear submarine.

He made the announcement during a meeting with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles at the Pentagon on February 7. According to Reuters, this was the main topic of the meeting, which emphasized the idea of ​​strengthening defense cooperation between the two allies.

Australia made this payment as part of the AUKUS (Australia-UK-USA) alliance, which was established on 15 September 2021. The project will be implemented in three stages.

In the first phase, Australia will commission up to five submarines (the Virginia class) over the next decade, including two options. The Virginia class will allow Australia to fill a capability gap in the Navy following the planned retirement of its six Collins class diesel-electric submarines.

At the next (second) stage, the project envisages the construction of submarines with new-generation nuclear power plants using US and UK technologies. The submarines being developed within the framework of the SSN-AUKUS project will not carry nuclear weapons, although they will be equipped with nuclear power plants.

At this stage, Australia and the UK will build new submarines at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard in north-east England (Cumbria), owned by the British company BAE Systems Submarines.

Over the next decade, industrial facilities will be established in southern Australia to continue the project locally (stage three).

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