DEFENCE CONNECT: Robert Dougherty 27AUG24.

1. 1. Australia is “on plan and on schedule” to receive nuclear-powered Virginia Class attack submarines from the United States, according to Chief of Navy Mark Hammond.
   2. Royal Australian Navy Vice Admiral Hammond made the comments during a press conference with Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel Matt Keogh at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia on 23 August.
   3. Under the AUKUS trilateral agreement with the US and United Kingdom, Australia intends to acquire three Virginia Class submarines in the early 2030s and retain an option to purchase two additional submarines.
      

      Chief of Navy VADM mark Hammond, AO, RAN speaks with members of HMAS Penguin during an official visit. Photo ABIS Danyellah Hill

   4. “We’re going to get our own Virginia Class attack submarine in the early 2030s, 2032 is the agreed time frame, and that’s what we’re working towards, and … we are on plan, on schedule,” VADM Hammond said.
   5. “(For the SSN AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines) that’s subject to construction of the yard, completion of the design and that’s a much longer time frame for those reasons.
   6. “What I would say is that this is a strategic program. I’ve said it before, strategic programs require strategic focus, strategic resourcing and a degree of strategic patience, and that’s what I would ask the Australian community to acknowledge here.
   7. “We’re not building a car; we’re not building a truck or a bus. We’re building one of the most complex machines on the planet, and you’ve got to build the ship-yard and the industry and the workforce and the know-how first. So it’s going to take a number of, there will be a number of chiefs of navies talking to this over the next 20 years.”
   8. The adoption of nuclear-powered submarines into the Australian Defence Force will be exciting on a national and personal perspective, he said.
   9. “We have a shared Development Program for the submarine combat system and for the Mark 48 torpedo system. This is the missing piece of the puzzle, it’s the most advanced propulsion system and the safest naval nuclear propulsion system in the world,” VADM Hammond said.
   10. “So in that context, I am excited about the fact that the Australian submarine force of the future will be operating in the most survivable and most capable submarines available to our nation. That’s what excites me the most.”
   11. In addition, the Chief of Navy outlined discussions with international neighbours such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia regarding the adoption of more complex submarines.
   12. “I was just texting with the Chief of Navy of the Philippines about an hour and a half ago, Vice Admiral Adaci, he’s hoping to get out here for Exercise Kakadu, I hope that happens. And similarly, Admiral Muhammad Ali, the Chief for the Indonesian Navy KSAL, he and I have been friends for a long time, he’s a submariner as well,” VADM Hammond said.
   13. “The reality is chiefs of navy in the region and Australia enjoy a very good relationship. Most of us communicate very, very regularly. We interact with a number of different international fora, and all of my counterparts in the region that I have a direct relationship with are very comfortable with the AUKUS program and, for some reason, a lot of them are submariners right now, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, to name a few.
   14. “So I think the understanding of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, and our authority to do as a sovereign nation is well understood, it’s not an issue for me.”