AUKUS Road Map
The AUKUS pathway is broken into phases with the first starting immediately. The United States and the United Kingdom will immediately increase port visits of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines in Australia, and then as early as 2027, will begin rotating through Australia under the Submarine Rotational Force West.
This deployment will ensure Australian service members can continue familiarizing themselves with how these vessels operate, how they are properly maintained, and how to safely operate together. The increased presence of U.S. submarines will buttress regional stability and support the safe development of Australian stewardship of its own sovereign, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine enterprise.
Under the next phase the United States will sell three Virginia-class submarines to Australia, with the potential for two more submarines depending on conditions. This will provide Australia with a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability prior to building their own. This will mean there will be "three allied, and highly interoperable [submarine] fleets operating in the Indo-Pacific."
The final phase revolves around the SSN-AUKUS — a next generation conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine that will be designed and constructed by Australia and the United Kingdom and incorporate cutting edge American technologies in their propulsion plant, combat control and in weapon systems.
Australian sailors should be sailing nuclear-powered submarines built in their own yards by the early 2040s.
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