What is AUKUS?
A pact between Australia, the UK and the US under which Australia gets conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.
It is one of the country's largest long term public programs, with work in Adelaide and Western Australia.
The rule
- In March 2023 Australia, the UK and the US agreed the Optimal Pathway to give Australia a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability. The Australian Submarine Agency was set up in July 2023 to run the program.
- Nuclear-powered describes the engine. The Agency describes the submarines as conventionally armed.
- ASC and BAE Systems were picked in March 2024 to build the new SSN-AUKUS submarines, and ASC to maintain them.
- The Government announced $12 billion toward a defence precinct at Henderson, Western Australia, in September 2025, and a $3.9 billion down payment on the Osborne construction yard in Adelaide in February 2026.
- UK and US submarines begin rotating through Western Australia in 2027. Australia receives its first Virginia class submarine from the US in the early 2030s. The first Australian-built submarine is delivered in the early 2040s.
- The Agency states total planned investment of $71 to $96 billion over the decade from 2026-27 to 2035-36, and a fleet of 8 submarines by the early 2040s.
What people ask
What is AUKUS?
A partnership between Australia, the UK and the US. Under its submarine part, Australia is to get nuclear-powered submarines, first from the US and later built in Adelaide.
Are AUKUS submarines nuclear weapons?
The Australian Submarine Agency calls them conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. Nuclear-powered means the engine runs on a reactor. Conventionally armed describes the weapons.
How much will AUKUS cost?
The Agency gives $71 to $96 billion of planned investment over the decade from 2026-27 to 2035-36. Its page gives no total for the whole program, so this page gives none.
When will Australia get its first nuclear-powered submarine?
The Agency says the first Virginia class submarine from the US arrives in the early 2030s, and the first Australian-built one in the early 2040s.
Where will the submarines be built?
At the Osborne yard in Adelaide. Henderson, in Western Australia, is a separate defence precinct for naval shipbuilding. HMAS Stirling in Western Australia hosts maintenance and rotations.