Two key US senators recently raised major concerns about the AUKUS pact with President Joe Biden, saying the plan to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarine technology risked stressing America’s industrial base to its “breaking point”.
The intervention, which comes just three months before the Albanese government unveils its submarine plan, is the first time members of Congress from either party have expressed significant misgivings about AUKUS, which has so far enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Washington. In a letter to Biden sent on December 21, Democratic Senator Jack Reed and Republican Senator James Inhofe explicitly warned against any plan to sell or transfer Virginia-class submarines to Australia before the US Navy meets its current requirements.Credit:Reed is the chair of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, which oversees the US military and Department of Defence. Inhofe, whose Senate career ended this week, was the top Republican on the committee at the time the letter was sent.
“Over the past year, we have grown more concerned about the state of the US submarine industrial base as well as its ability to support the desired AUKUS SSN [nuclear submarine] end state,” Reed and Inhofe said in their letter to the White House,“We believe current conditions require a sober assessment of the facts to avoid stressing the US submarine industrial base to the breaking point.
“We are concerned that what was initially touted as a ‘do no harm’ opportunity to support Australia and the United Kingdom and build long-term competitive advantages for the US and its pacific allies, may be turning into a zero-sum game for scarce, highly advanced US SSNs.