The US cannot sell any Virginia-class nuclear submarines to Australia without doubling its production rate, because it is making too few for its own defence, the navy\u2019s nominee for chief of operations has told Congress.<\/p>\n
There are \u201cno magic beans\u201d to boosting the US\u2019s sclerotic shipbuilding capacity, Admiral Daryl Caudle said in frank evidence before a Senate committee.<\/p>\n
The US\u2019s submarine fleet numbers are a quarter below their target, US government figures<\/a> show, and the country is producing boats at just over half the rate it needs to<\/a> service its own defence requirements.<\/p>\n Testifying before the Senate Committee on Armed Services<\/a> as part of his confirmation process to serve as the next chief of naval operations, Caudle lauded Royal Australian Navy sailors as \u201cincredible submariners\u201d, but said the US would not be able to sell them any boats \u2013 as committed under the Aukus pact<\/a> \u2013 without a \u201c100% improvement\u201d on shipbuilding rates.<\/p>\n The US Navy estimates it needs to be building Virginia-class submarines at a rate of 2.00 a year to meet its own defence requirements, and about 2.33 to have enough boats to sell any to Australia<\/a>. It is currently building Virginia-class submarines at a rate of about 1.13 a year<\/a>, senior admirals say.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia\u2019s ability to conduct undersea warfare is not in question,\u201d Caudle said, \u201cbut as you know the delivery pace is not what it needs to be to make good on the pillar one of the Aukus<\/a> agreement which is currently under review by our defence department\u201d.<\/p>\n Caudle said efficiency gains or marginal improvements would not be sufficient to \u201cmake good on the actual pact that we made with the UK and Australia, which is \u2026 around 2.2 to 2.3 Virginia-class submarines per year\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is going to require a transformational improvement; not a 10% improvement, not a 20% improvement but a 100% improvement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n Under pillar one<\/a> of the Aukus agreement, Australia is scheduled to buy between three and five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US, starting in 2032.<\/p>\n The UK will build the first Aukus-class submarine for its navy by \u201cthe late 2030s<\/a>\u201d. The first Australian-built Aukus boat will be in the water \u201cin the early 2040s\u201d. Aukus is forecast to cost Australia up to $368bn<\/a> over 30 years.<\/p>\n US goodwill towards Australia, or the import of the US-alliance, would be irrelevant to any decision to sell submarines: Aukus legislation prohibits the US selling Australia any submarine if that would weaken US naval strength.<\/p>\n Australia has already paid $1.6bn out of an expected total of $4.7bn (US$3bn) to help the US boost its flagging shipbuilding industry.<\/p>\n But the US itself has been pouring money into its shipbuilding yards, without noticeable effect.<\/p>\n A joint statement on \u201cthe state of nuclear shipbuilding\u201d issued by three rear admirals in April noted that while Congress had committed an additional US$5.7bn to lift wages and shipyard productivity, \u201cwe have not observed the needed and expected ramp-up in Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarine production rates necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n Caudle, himself a career submariner, said the US would need \u201ccreativity, ingenuity, and some outsourcing improvements\u201d if it were to meet its shipbuilding demands and produce 2.3 Virginia-class vessels a year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no magic beans to that,\u201d he told the Senate hearing. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing that\u2019s just going to make that happen. So the solution space has got to open up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Why is there no plan B?\u2019<\/p>\n The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who first reported on Caudle\u2019s testimony to the Senate, told the Guardian that there was \u201cno shortage of goodwill<\/a> towards Australia\u201d from the US in relation to Aukus, but the realities of a shortfall of submarines meant there was a \u201cvery, very high\u201d probability that Virginia-class submarines would never arrive under Australian control.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n