US agrees to sell N-submarines to Australia

Republicans and Democrats have agreed to sell three Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2030s according to reports.

The agreement would see the sale added to the US Congress’s National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024.

Democratic congressman Joe Courtney said: “For the first time since the launch of the USS Nautilus in 1958, this National Defence Authorisation Act authorises the US Navy to sell three conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines to another nation — our steadfast ally Australia.

“It streamlines technology sharing among the three AUKUS allies under the umbrella of the Defence Production Act to strengthen deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.”

The sale opens the way for a nuclear submarine building industry at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide to build a new submarine design known as SSN-AUKUS to follow, though the extent of the local build is unclear.

Land has already been secured from the South Australian government for a vast expansion of Osborne – far larger in scope than envisaged to build the now abandonned French Attack class submarines.

Picture: Virginia class submarine