US Navy boss warns government funding deal will spark more AUKUS delays

America’s Navy boss has sounded the alarm about a stopgap deal to fund the US government that he says will further delay production of nuclear submarines Australia plans to buy.

Exclusive: A stopgap measure to avoid a US government shutdown will spark further damaging delays to AUKUS, America’s Navy boss has warned on the third anniversary of the defence pact.

The latest hurdle for Australia’s bid to acquire nuclear-powered submarines came as Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the US, waved off mounting criticism of the $368bn plan and said he was confident it could survive the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

The US Congress has until the end of September to fund the government, with politicians plotting a six-month deal to freeze budgets – including for the Pentagon – at existing levels.

But in a scathing letter, US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said that would have “negative consequences lasting far beyond the time frame” of the temporary budget agreement.

He said the production of the Virginia-class submarines that Australia is due to purchase from the US in the early 2030s was already “over cost and behind schedule”, and that the proposal “risks setting back the program even further”.

The SSN-AUKUS, a new conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarine, based on a UK design, incorporating cutting edge Australian, UK and US technologies.

Mr Del Toro also warned the deal risked “delaying critical investments in the submarine industrial base” under the AUKUS partnership, such as Australia’s unprecedented $US3bn ($A4.4bn) injection to help accelerate production.

The six-month spending proposal was due for a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (local time), although it was expected to fail as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson tried to tie it to new laws requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship.

Three years after AUKUS was unveiled, Dr Rudd said he believed Mr Trump had “no particular reservations” about it as he campaigned to return to power in November’s election.

He said the former president understood the importance for America’s allies to “pull their own weight”, and pointed to Australia’s investments in its own military as well as the US submarine industrial base.

Ambassador of Australia to the United States, Hon Kevin Rudd, at his residence in Washington DC. Picture: Noah Willman

“My understanding is the Republicans see this as a good deal, a great deal,” Dr Rudd said.

Speaking at the Stimson Center think tank, the former prime minister also sidestepped the increasing barrage of criticism directed at AUKUS led by his fellow former leaders Paul Keating and Malcolm Turnbull.

He argued Australia’s planned nuclear submarine fleet was required to “maintain the overall strategic balance” in the Indo-Pacific that had been up-ended by the “intensity and speed” of China’s military expansion.

Dr Rudd said that while America’s naval fleet had remained steady at almost 300 vessels since 2010, China’s fleet had grown from 200 to almost 400 vessels.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden – who will meet in the US for the Quad summit later this week – issued a joint statement on the third anniversary of AUKUS with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in which they reaffirmed “our shared commitment to this historic partnership and acknowledge the considerable progress”

Originally published as US Navy boss warns government funding deal will spark more AUKUS delays