‘Broaden AUKUS to cover SAS-SEALs ties’

Leading defence experts have backed a proposal from opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie to expand the AUKUS framework to cover co-operation between the SAS and US Navy SEALs.

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie. Picture: Martin Ollman

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Former Special Air Service Regiment commander Duncan Lewis has backed a proposal to broaden AUKUS co-operation to include local deployments of US Navy SEALs to train the SAS on how to operate from Virginia-class nuclear powered submarines.

Mr Lewis said the US’s top tier special forces unit should teach its Australian counterpart how to make the most of the “leap” in capability, allowing the SAS to deploy covertly across the region to assess and eliminate potential threats.

The former SAS commander, Defence Department secretary and ASIO boss has backed a proposal from opposition defence spokesman, Andrew Hastie, who has suggested that US navy SEALs should be stationed at Submarine Rotational Force-West from 2027 under the AUKUS arrangements.

Sketching out the idea in an opinion piece for The Australian’s Landforces 2024 special report, Mr Hastie said Australia must not allow AUKUS “to become an intellectual straitjacket and narrow our thinking to strictly naval ­categories.”

US navy SEALs are one of the most elite military groups in the world, and Mr Hastie said AUKUS provided a “massive opportunity for the Australian Army as we grapple with future threats”. The WA MP and former SAS captain told The Australian the existing multi-swimmer release capability on the Collins-class submarines was “not fit for purpose”.

“The submarine has to surface and the range is limited. I’ve done it myself and it involves a significant amount of risk to our special operators that is far better managed with the evolved capabilities on the Virginia class,” Mr Hastie said. “The Virginia-class will bring a huge capability lift and provide government with clandestine options for insertion and extraction.”

Mr Lewis – Colonel Commandant of the SAS Regiment – told The Australian: “I strongly support what Andrew’s saying.

“When the submarines come they should and will come with what I’ve described as complete capabilities. And one of those capabilities is the deployment of special forces from the submarines. In the US context, that is done by US navy SEALs,” he said.

Mr Hastie’s proposal for US navy SEALs to train with the SAS and pass on their experience of deploying from Virginia-class submarines also won the backing of former Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo.

“The strategic advantage that it gives you is you can insert special forces teams with all their gear, their weapons, ammo, medical kits and comms. There’s a few other forces in the world that can do it, but the Americans are pre-eminent,” Mr Pezzullo said. “That allows you to insert highly specialised special forces in probably the most stealthy fashion imaginable ... Once on land, they can conduct a whole variety of typical special force missions, from reconnaissance and intelligence to kinetic missions.”

Mr Pezzullo said having the “next generation underwater insertion capabilities means that not only can you insert with more weapons and equipment, but you can do so over longer distances.”

Under the AUKUS framework, the US will aim to provide Australia with at least three nuclear-powered Virginia class submarines from 2032 before Australia can build up to five SSN AUKUS boats, with the first being delivered by the early 2040s.

Mr Pezzullo said the ability to deploy SAS should also “be a design feature of the SSN AUKUS”.

Mr Lewis told The Australian that it was “only the Special Air Service Regiment that have the capacity to operate from the submarines in this way to do swimmer release and recovery.”

“To do this, there would need to be some focus given to the development of better training facilities and facilities for equipment storage,” he said. “The SAS Regiment has facilities on that island already. But they are inadequate for this new leap of capability. They were built for a previous age and for a different boat.”

Mr Hastie, who was recently aboard the USS Hawaii – the first Virginia-class submarine to receive maintenance work outside of US territory at HMAS Stirling at Garden Island – said “AUKUS is not only about submarines.” Writing for the Landforces 2024 special report, he said that, in the torpedo room of the USS Hawaii, “the captain showed me the bunks that can house a platoon of US navy SEALs, with space for all their equipment and weapons.”

“Then to the lockout chamber, where special operators begin their insertion to the flashpoints of the land domain,” he said. “My immediate thought was of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) 60 minutes up the coast at the Campbell Barracks. And the need for the Australian Army to grow this capability over the coming years.

“If so, why not learn from the experts? Indeed, why not have a US navy SEAL presence as part of Submarine Rotational Force – West from 2027?”