Skip to content
  • .about
  • .home
  • .business & economy
  • .ledger of lies
  • .tech

Corruption Ledger

The Public Ledger of Corruption

  • .corruption
    • banks
    • censorship
    • corporate
    • environment
    • government
    • health
    • journalism
    • misinformation
  • .crime
    • child victims
    • tech crime
    • dimwit crimes
    • financial crime
    • killings
    • shootings
  • .international conflict
    • Israel-Palestine
    • Nordstream
    • Russia vs. West
    • war news
    • war machines
  • .privacy & surveillance
  • .leaks
    • all leaks
    • Wikileaks
  • .regions
    • All Regions
    • Africas
    • North Americas
      • All
      • Canada
      • U.S.
    • Asias
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • Oceania
  • .sanctions feeds
    • Canadian Sanctions Feed
    • EU Sanctions Feed
    • US Sanctions Feed
  • Toggle search form
  • What’s the basis of the Republicans’ Joe Biden impeachment inquiry? All News
  • Biden impeachment inquiry opens with focus on son’s business dealings All News
  • Polish minister launches bill to extradite Ukrainian Nazi WW2 veteran Hunka from Canada All News
  • Poland: Ukraine is drowning and therefore dangerous All News
  • This China trade war isn’t about semiconductors: Straits Times Business & Economy
  • Airbus Hacker Threatens to Sell US, Europe Military Intel on Dark Web All News
  • Intel-linked UK official pushing censorship of Russell Brand -The Grayzone _enforcement
  • Australia Signs $210 Million Underwater Tracking Contract All News

Pentagon seeks authority to transfer nuclear submarines to Australia

Posted on May 17, 2023July 10, 2023 By CorruptionLedger No Comments on Pentagon seeks authority to transfer nuclear submarines to Australia

 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Defense asked Congress to authorize the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia as part of the trilateral AUKUS agreement with the U.K.

Three legislative proposals, submitted on May 2 and first posted online Tuesday, would greenlight the sale of two Virginia-class submarines to Australia, permit the training of Australian nationals for submarine work and allow Canberra to invest in the U.S. submarine industrial base.

Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee’s sea power panel, praised the proposals in a statement to Defense News, saying “I look forward to working with all my colleagues in Congress to fulfill these goals.”

“The Department of Defense’s legislative proposals are the latest example of President [Joe] Biden’s commitment to fulfilling the AUKUS agreement,” said Courtney. “Importantly, the proposals spell out a clear path forward to facilitate the transfer of Virginia-class submarines to Australia while ensuring we have the necessary authorities to accept the Australian Government’s investments to enhance our submarine industrial base capacity and provide training for Australian personnel.”

AUKUS stipulates that Australia will buy at least three and as many as five Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s as part of phase two of the agreement, giving Congress more than a decade to authorize the sale. This year’s proposal, which the Pentagon hopes will become part of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, asks that Congress approve just two of those submarines “without a deadline to consummate the transfers and without specifying the specific vessels to be transferred.”

The proposal argues that this “small amount of flexibility is necessary” since the transfers depend on Australian readiness to operate the submarines, which will involve developing Australia’s submarine industrial base through training and appropriate shipyard infrastructure.

To that end, a second legislative proposal would authorize U.S. defense service exports directly to Australia’s private sector in order to train its own submarine workers.

“This development must begin as soon as possible for Australia to become ready to own and safely operate these submarines in a manner that both maintains the highest non-proliferation standards and strengthens the global non-proliferation regime,” the Pentagon argues in the proposal.

Finally, the Pentagon is also asking Congress for permission to accept Australian payments to bolster the U.S. submarine industrial base. Australia has offered to make an undisclosed sum of investments in the U.S. submarine industrial base as part of AUKUS.

The Pentagon states in the legislative proposal that those funds would be used to “add a significant number of trade workers” that will help address “the significant overhaul backlog” for the Virginia-class submarine. Australian monies would also be used for “advance purchasing of components and materials that are known to be replacement items for submarine overhauls” and “outsourcing less complex sustainment work to local contractors.”

Congress is also making its own investments to expand the U.S. submarine industrial base as the Navy ultimately aims to build two Virginia-class and one Columbia-class submarines per year. Courtney helped secure $541 million in submarine supplier development and $207 million in workforce development initiatives as part of the FY 23 government funding bill.

Austal USA, the American subsidiary of Australia-based Austal, plans to open a new facility at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama to begin construction on nuclear submarine modules for General Dynamics’ Electric Boat shipyard in Connecticut, which produces both Virginia and Columbia-class submarines. Austal expects it will need 1,000 new hires in Mobile to staff that facility.

At Electric Boat, the prime contractor for the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarine programs, the hiring need will be even greater. The company currently employs more than 19,000 people, after hiring 3,700 new workers in 2022, according to local newspaper The Day. But the company needs to hire 5,750 new workers this year, to manage attrition and to help grow the workforce to about 22,000 to handle the increased workload.

The legislative proposal notes that Australian funds “would be applied to recruitment, training, incentivizing, and retention of key skilled trades, engineering and planning personnel in both nuclear and non-nuclear disciplines that are required by the additional AUKUS workload.”

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.
Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.

Related

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2023/05/17/pentagon-seeks-authority-to-transfer-nuclear-submarines-to-australia/

Defense and National Security, International Conflict, Spotlight, war, war machines, Western Media Tags:All Regions, Corruption, Region Americas, Region Oceania, Region US, z.defenseNews

Post navigation

Previous Post: Russia freezes bank accounts of Finland’s diplomatic missions, prompting cash payments
Next Post: Reports: Defense News correspondent arrested in India

You must log in to post a comment.

Wall of Shame

  • Censorship & Access to Information
  • Environmental Collapse
  • Journalism
  • In Court
  • Enforcement
  • Free Speech: What’s it good for?

Recent

  • What’s the basis of the Republicans’ Joe Biden impeachment inquiry?
  • Biden impeachment inquiry opens with focus on son’s business dealings
  • Polish minister launches bill to extradite Ukrainian Nazi WW2 veteran Hunka from Canada
  • Poland: Ukraine is drowning and therefore dangerous
  • This China trade war isn’t about semiconductors: Straits Times
  • Airbus Hacker Threatens to Sell US, Europe Military Intel on Dark Web
  • Intel-linked UK official pushing censorship of Russell Brand -The Grayzone
  • Australia Signs $210 Million Underwater Tracking Contract
  • TransUnion denies it was hacked, links leaked data to 3rd party
  • 400,000 calls made to Japanese Embassy in China over radioactive water
About CL
Shootings | Air Force and Aerospace
Rumble Video from CL
  • US sues Binance and founder Zhao over ‘web of deception’ All News
  • Twenty-Three Individuals Charged in $61.5 Million Medicare Fraud Schemes _enforcement
  • War crimes tribunal ICC says it has been hacked All News
  • Saudi Arabia sentences teacher to death for criticizing government on social media Censorship Free Speech
  • US commissions navy warship USS Canberra in Sydney: first US Navy vessel to join active service at a foreign port All News
  • Canadian law enforcement denies probing Trudeau over ‘Meddling’ claims in SNC-Lavalin case Corruption

Copyright © 2022 Corruption Ledger. This web site contains no ads.