AUKUS subs US-built ‘but will be under our command’, says Defence Strategy

The government is insisting that Australia will have complete and full command and control of the US-built ­Virginia-class submarines when they ­arrive in the country.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Picture: AFP

The government has moved to rebut recent criticism of the AUKUS nuclear submarine plan by insisting that Australia will have complete and full command and control of the US-built ­Virginia-class submarines when they ­arrive in the country.

The government has pointedly chosen to use the new National Defence Strategy released this week to outline the full extent of Australia’s sovereign control over the Virginia-class boats.

The move comes amid recent criticism of the pact, including claims the submarines will be majority US crewed and that Washington may have ultimate control over their use in a conflict, including a war with China over Taiwan.

The government is increasingly defensive of AUKUS, with polls showing that only a third of 18- to 34-year-olds think the AUKUS pact is a good idea. The pact has also been criticised by a raft of prominent Australians including former prime ministers Paul Keating and Malcolm Turnbull, former foreign minister Gareth Evans, former NSW premier Bob Carr and strategist Hugh White.

One of the most common criticisms of AUKUS is that it will undermine Australia’s sovereignty because the Virginia-class boats will be crewed largely by US submariners when they arrive here in the early 2030s because Australia will not have enough submariners to crew the boats.

AUKUS sceptics have also queried whether Australia would have full operational control over the submarines if the US were to find itself at war in the region, for example with China over Taiwan.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell raised eyebrows this month when he said in Washington that the AUKUS submarines could potentially be involved in scenarios involving Taiwan.

Mr Campbell referred to the “practical circumstances in which AUKUS has the potential to have submarines from a number of countries operating in close co-­ordination that could deliver conventional ordnance from long distances. Those have enormous implications in a variety of scenarios, including in cross-strait circumstances,” he said.

The government has now hit back by including a high-profile pledge in its new National Defence Strategy that Australia will have complete control of the Virginia-class submarines.

“Australia’s conventionally armed nuclear powered-submarines will be owned, operated, maintained and regulated by Australia under Australian command,” the strategy states. “They will be a sovereign Australian capability, commanded by Royal Australian Navy officers under the ADF’s chain of command. Decisions on their deployment, missions and operations will be matters for the Australian government, as with all of Australia’s sovereign defence capabilities.”

By the time the Virginia-class submarines arrive in Australia in the early 2030s there will still be not enough Australian submariners qualified to operate the ­nuclear-powered boats which have a crew size of 135 compared to around 60 for Australia’s existing Collins-class submarines.

This means the boats will operate with mixed Australian and US crews for some years, although the government still insists that the boats will have an Australian captain and will be under Australian government control.

The government this week flagged a major recruitment drive at a time when the ADF cannot meet its target for new recruits, much less the far larger and highly ambitious future targets it has set for the enlarged fleet.