AUKUS plan unveiled: Australia to spend $368billion in nuclear submarine program

Australia will spend more than $368billion on a historic nuclear submarine program with the United States as China issued a chilling warning. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the massive spending as he unveiled the AUKUS plan alongside US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego on Tuesday.

Australia will command a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines within the next three decades under a fast-tracked plan to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

The announcement came as Chinese president Xi Jinping warned the country would strengthen its military in response to the AUKUS plan. 

He addressed the National People’s Congress on Monday saying the military would be bolstered to create a ‘great wall of steel’, labelled security the ‘bedrock of development’ and accused Western colonial powers of ‘national humiliation’.

‘We must fully promote the modernisation of national defence and the armed forces, and build the people’s armed forces into a great wall of steel that effectively safeguards national sovereignty, security and development interests,’ he said. 

Canberra will acquire three US Virginia-class nuclear submarines as a stop-gap from approximately 2033 before a new SSN-AUKUS-class hybrid vessel arrives in Australian waters a decade later as part of the trilateral alliance with the UK and US.

The cost to taxpayers will come in at an eye-watering $268-$368 billion over the next three decades.

The plan will take $9 billion from the budget’s bottom line across the next four years and $50-58 billion over the next decade.

The annual cost will then be around 0.15 per cent of GDP until the mid-2050s, but there are warnings about the exact number due to the unpredictability of inflation in three decades’ time.

An American submarine for Australia will roll off the production line every three years before the new AUKUS class will be built at a similar rate from 2042.

Australia’s current Collins-class submarines are due to come out of service in the late 2030s.

The plan ensures Australia will always have a baseline fleet of six submarines and have the option to buy an additional two Virginia-class submarines should there be any delays

The plan ensures Australia will always have a baseline fleet of six submarines and have the option to buy an additional two Virginia-class submarines should there be any delays.

The UK will construct and use the first AUKUS sub from the late 2030s and acquire an estimate of eight to 12 of the same type.

Four American nuclear-powered submarines and one UK vessel will begin rotating through Western Australian naval bases from as early as 2027 to boost Australia’s ability to operate its own vessels in the 2030s and 2040s.

Increased visits from US and UK nuclear submarines will also begin from next year.

Shipbuilders in Adelaide and Western Australia will join those in America and Britain in helping construct the new submarines.