Australia to get US-made nuclear submarines by 2030, opposition leader claims

Peter Dutton said on Sunday that the United States ‘would pull out every stop’ to support Australia acquiring nuclear submarines ‘as quickly as possible’

The former defence minister’s comments come as current PM Anthony Albanese prepares to depart for Europe to attend a Nato meeting to discuss the war in Ukraine

Reading Time:2 minutes

The USS Connecticut, a Seawolf-class nuclear powered fast attack submarine operated by the United States Navy, is seen departing Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for sea trials. Photo: Thiep Van Nguyen II/U.S. Navy/Abaca Press/TNS

Published: 1:07pm, 19 Jun 2022

Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton has reiterated earlier claims that the US could provide Australia with two nuclear submarines by 2030, without providing material evidence that such a deal would occur.

Speaking on national broadcaster ABC’s Insiders programme on Sunday, Dutton said he had visited counterparts in Connecticut and “spoken with them there” about acquiring the equipment, even though the proposition has attracted scepticism, given that there’s been no indication from the United States that it agreed to enter a sale.

The US is “very keen to see the reality in the Indo-Pacific addressed and so I think that they would pull out every stop to support Australia acquiring the capability as quickly as possible,” he said.

Peter Dutton, Australia’s leader of the opposition and former defence minister. Photo: AAP/dpa

Australia joined a security partnership with the US and Britain in September last year, allowing it to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The move sparked a rift with France, which said the agreement scuppered an earlier deal Australia made in 2016 with a French shipbuilder to build up to 12 submarines.

Dutton, the former defence minister, wrote earlier this month that he believed it possible to acquire “the first two submarines off the production line out of Connecticut” this decade as an alternative to waiting until 2038 for domestic manufacturing to produce the first Australian-made submarine.

When asked on Sunday what information he had based his claims on, Dutton said, “I’m not going into conversations, but I formed a judgment that we could acquire two submarines quickly and I think it’s necessary that we do so.”

The US and Britain are “incredibly willing partners,” he said.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x