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.
www.defenceconnect.com.au
Under the AUKUS trilaterial 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.
"..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.. That's what excites me the most."
"We're going to get our own Virginia-class attack submarine in the early 2030s, 2032 is the agreed timeframe, and that's what we're working towards, and... we are on plan, on schedule,"
"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.
"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."