AUKUS: The Optimal Pathway, One Year In

042 – 4 April 2024 The authors' views are their own and do not represent the official position of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S. [...] COMMENTARY The original AUKUS deal for Australia to acquire six to eight nuclear-propelled but conventionally armed submarines (SSNs) in the 2040s was signed back in September 2021 by the then leaders of the three countries that form the trilateral security pact, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [...] Phase three should involve the final delivery of the SSN-AUKUS to both the British and Australian navies in the early 2040s to replace the Australian navy’s Virginia-class SSNs and the British Astute-class SSNs. [...] The first is the desirability of the project. [...] The usual riposte is that in the light of both China’s own more assertive behaviour and the extensive and independent naval modernisation programmes being conducted by many other countries in the region, AUKUS is more to be seen as a symptom of the problem, rather than a cause.