An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : Media : News : News Article View
NEWS | March 14, 2023

Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on AUKUS Optimal Pathway Announcement

DoD Immediate Release

WASHINGTON -- Today, I was honored to join President Biden, Australian Prime Minister Albanese, and U.K. Prime Minister Sunak as they announced the AUKUS Optimal Pathway, a commitments-based, phased plan for Australia to acquire conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines. This is the next step forward in the transformational partnership among our three great democracies.

In September 2021, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom laid out an ambitious vision for our countries that will strengthen our combined military capabilities, boost our defense industrial capacity, enhance our ability to deter aggression, and promote our shared goal of a free and open Indo-Pacific. AUKUS is a shared, long-term investment that will allow us to build defense advantages that endure for decades to come.

One of the most important parts of this partnership is increasing each of our countries’ submarine capabilities. Under the first phase of the Optimal Pathway, the United States and the United Kingdom will immediately increase port visits of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines in Australia and then, as early as 2027, will begin rotating through Australia under Submarine Rotational Force-West. In the next phase, the United States intends to sell three Virginia-class submarines to Australia in the 2030s, with the potential to sell up to two more if needed. Finally, Australia and the United Kingdom will develop and deploy SSN-AUKUS, a new conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarine that incorporates critical U.S. technologies. Each phase of the Optimal Pathway will set the highest nuclear nonproliferation standards.

We’re also working to strengthen our countries’ industrial bases; to eliminate barriers to information-sharing and technological cooperation; and to develop and deliver advanced capabilities in such areas as artificial intelligence, hypersonics, and maritime domain awareness. All these investments will allow us to work more closely with our valued and highly capable allies to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific—a region whose future is crucial for U.S. national security and the rules-based international order that makes us all safer.

I would like to thank the many public servants in all three proud democracies whose hard work has made this historic announcement possible. I look forward to working with my team and with our Australian and British counterparts to continue to move toward our shared vision of a stable, secure Indo-Pacific and an open world of rules and rights.
CONNECT WITH USINDOPACOM
Facebook

Like Us
Twitter
342,728
Follow Us

ENGAGE & CONNECT MORE WITH PACOM

                                                 

IN THE USINDOPACOM NEWS
Andersen AFB Updates on Services post Typhoon Mawar
Satellite image of Typhoon Mawar taken May 25, 2023.  Image courtesy 325th Operational Support Squadron, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
May 31, 2023 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Members of Team Andersen continue to prevail in the wake of Typhoon Mawar and persevere through the lack of services across the island; meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Paul Fast, 36th Wing commander,...

Decorated American Officer’s Last Remains to Head Home After 58 Years
Major General Harry Kleinbeck Pickett, Decorated American Officer’s Last Remains to Head Home After 58 Years.  Courtesy photo
May 31, 2023 - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India -- The last remains of one of America’s most decorated officers, Major General Harry Kleinbeck Pickett, who fought in both World War I and World War II, is being returned home to the United...

Friendship Jump 2023
Japan Ground Self-Defense paratroopers with the 1st Airborne Brigade carry his parachute during the Japanese-American Friendship Festival 2023 at Yokota Air Base, Japan, May 21, 2023. Paratroopers from the U.S. Army 1st SFG (Airborne), USAF 320th Special Tactics Squadron, and JGSDF 1st Airborne Brigade conducted static-line jump demonstrations to show their capabilities during the festival. During the two-day festival, 193,000 attendees came to Yokota to experience the event. The festival is aimed at increasing bilateral relationships between U.S. and Japanese communities and allows people to see U.S. and Japanese military capabilities first-hand. (U.S. Air Force photo by Yasuo Osakabe)
May 31, 2023 - YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, Japan -- The annual Yokota Friendship Festival Joint Capabilities Demonstration draws in many festival-goers to view airborne demonstrations, with the 36th Airlift Squadron using their C-130J Super...

U.S. Philippines, Japan, Coast Guards Conduct Joint Maritime Law Enforcement Training
More than 30 participants from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam joined the Multinational Vessel Boarding Officer Course funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.  Courtesy photo
May 31, 2023 - MANILA, Philippines -- From May 15 to 26, coast guard instructors from the United States, the Philippines, and Japan jointly led a Multinational Vessel Boarding Officer Course in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan that...

USINDOPACOM Statement on DPRK Launch
May 30, 2023 - CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii -- “We are aware of the DPRK’s launch using ballistic missile technology, which, is a brazen violation of multiple unanimous UN Security Council resolutions, raises tensions, and risks destabilizing...