Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Rankin is seen during AUSINDEX 21, a biennial maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian

Navy near Darwin, Australia, on Sept. 5, 2021. (Photo by POIS Yuri Ramsey/Australian Defence Force via Getty Images)By Victoria Kelly-Clark

February 1, 2023

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has pushed back on concerns that U.S. dry dock delays will hold up the delivery of the AUKUS nuclear submarines to Australia.

Speaking to ABC Radio’s AM on Feb. 1, Marles said that the Albanese government was confident there was a clear pathway for the submarines to be delivered on time.

“We’re confident that what we will be announcing in the coming weeks is a pathway that will be able to be delivered by all partners on time, and obviously, we are talking about a program which is not measured in weeks or months but is actually going to take place over years and decades,” he said.

Marles noted that Australia did not underestimate the challenge that was involved in arming itself with the capability but that the government was confident that the trilateral partners would be able to meet the challenges.

“AUKUS is central to that,” he said.

“I think what you’ll see is when we ultimately do announce the optimal pathway that we’ve been working on with both the United States and the United Kingdom, that what it really is, is a genuinely trilateral effort to see both the UK and the U.S. provide Australia with a nuclear-powered submarine capability.”

The comments from Marles come after concerns were raised that the U.S. Navy’s decision to suspend four submarine dry dock facilities would cause massive delays to the AUKUS submarine timeline.

The U.S. Navy announced the suspension on Jan. 27 after a seismic assessment identified potential issues associated with the remote possibility of a large-scale earthquake occurring simultaneously with a submarine maintenance availability.

“Our public shipyards are essential to our national defence,” said Vice Adm. Bill Galinis, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command.

“We will begin implementing these mitigations immediately and safely return our dry docks to full capacity as soon as possible.”