"[31][32][33] Less than three weeks later, Australia decided to publicly cancel the contract with Naval Group for the Attack-class submarines[16] despite having already spent about A$2.4 billion on the French project.

[52][53] In 2024, the Albanese government made undisclosed "political commitments" with its AUKUS partners in an agreement for the transfer of naval nuclear technology to Australia, sparking concerns about the potential for high-level radioactive waste to be stored in the country.

Despite assurances from the government, critics, including the Greens party, warned of possible loopholes that could lead to uranium enrichment and radioactive waste management in Australia.

[41] The basic design and key technologies will be decided by the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Task Force an 18-month Department of Defence research project headed by Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead, begun in September 2021 with assistance from the US and UK.

[59][note 2] The annual Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) between the Australian Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence and the US Secretaries of State and Defense held in September 2021 endorsed "increasing logistics and sustainment capabilities of US surface and subsurface vessels in Australia.

[76][77] South Korea, also a US treaty ally, has had ambitions to acquire nuclear-powered submarines since 2017 and was reportedly refused US assistance in September 2020 because of nuclear non-proliferation.

[103] Pillar 2 activities in this area include the “AUKUS Maritime Autonomy Experimentation and Exercise Series,” which the three governments have described as “a series of integrated trilateral experiments and exercises aimed at enhancing capability development, improving interoperability, and increasing the sophistication and scale of autonomous systems in the maritime domain.”[104] The AUKUS governments are also working on the ability to deploy and recover UUVs from crewed submarines (sometimes referred to as “launch and recovery”), conducting activities to develop and improve “the ability to launch and recover undersea vehicles from torpedo tubes on current classes of submarines to deliver effects such as strike and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.”[104] In November 2023, the United States Department of Defense announced that the AUKUS partners had participated in a joint exercise to demonstrate and improve capabilities relating to the protection of underwater infrastructure and the use of autonomous and semiautonomous undersea systems.

[106] Additionally, the AUKUS governments announced in December 2023 that they were “accelerating the development of quantum technologies for positioning, navigation, and timing in military capabilities,” with a particular focus on improving “resilience for our trilateral forces in Global Positioning System-degraded environments and enhance stealth in the undersea domain.”[104] The announcement of AUKUS included the stated aim of improving "joint capabilities and interoperability.

"[107] Tom Tugendhat, chair of the British Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee, later commented on Twitter that "Bringing together the military-industrial complex of these three allies together is a step-change in the relationship.

"[108] Engineering & Technology pointed to the increasing expansion of Chinese technology firms such as Huawei, which has been excluded from tendering for participation in telecommunications networks by the US and Australia on national security grounds, and government vetoes over the attempted Chinese acquisition of American company Lattice Semiconductor and ongoing British consideration of proposed takeovers of local semiconductor firms.

[108] Engineering & Technology also pointed to the March 2021 statement of the US National Security Commission on AI, of the imperative to intensify local efforts but also "rally our closest allies and partners to defend and compete in the coming era of AI-accelerated competition and conflict".

[110][111][112] The AUKUS partners have announced they will “pursue opportunities in Long Range Fires under AUKUS Pillar II in 2024,” and have also announced the establishment of a Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) program to constantly track, detect, and identify objects in deep space from up to 22,000 miles away from Earth (the first will be built in Western Australia and is expected to be operational by 2026, with the radars based in the UK and the US aimed to be completed by 2030).

[117] While many officials in the US government advocate the inclusion of Japan in AUKUS, notably Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, there has been push back for months from the UK and Australia partly in order to focus on ironing out existing complications in AUKUS, however primarily over concerns that Japan lacks the security systems required to protect highly sensitive information.

[117][118] In September 2024, the leaders of Australia, the UK and the US issued a joint statement announcing that AUKUS partners and Japan were exploring opportunities to improve interoperability of their maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of cooperation.

[123][124] In December 2023, following the formation of a new government, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that New Zealand was open to joining the non-nuclear pillar of the AUKUS agreement during a state visit to Australia.

[131] In September 2024, the leaders of Australia, the UK and the US issued a joint statement announcing that they were consulting with Canada, New Zealand, and South Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II.

[119] The following non-participating nations were also subject to media speculation about potentially joining: The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty allows non-nuclear-weapon states to produce the highly enriched uranium for naval reactor fuel.

For Australia to operate nuclear-powered submarines, it will have to become the first non-nuclear-weapon state to exercise a loophole that allows it to remove nuclear material from the inspection system of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

[145] Former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd warned against overly obtrusive criticism of China and recommended that Australia focus on quietly improving military capability.

[146] The Australian defence minister at the time, Peter Dutton, responded by saying that Australia wanted peace and stability and "an opportunity for Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka and Korea to continue to develop".

[149] Prime Minister at the time, Boris Johnson said that the deal would create "hundreds of high-skilled jobs" and "preserve security and stability around the world" but said that the relationship with France was "rock solid".

[40] Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat said: "After years of bullying and trade hostility, and watching regional neighbours like the Philippines see encroachment into their waters, Australia didn't have a choice, and nor did the US or UK [to make the deal]".

[153] He made further reference to the deal in his speech at the Conservative Party Conference the next month, touting it as "a supreme example of global Britain in action, of something daring and brilliant that would simply would not have happened if we'd remained in the EU", whilst acknowledging "a certain raucous squawkus from the anti-AUKUS caucus.

"[154][155] Foreign Secretary at the time, Liz Truss viewed AUKUS as the beginning of a "Network of Liberty", and also stated "On security we are striking new pacts to protect our sea routes, trade routes and freedoms", adding that "We are in talks with Japan about better military access and operational support between our two countries [and] we want closer security ties with key allies like India and Canada in everything from fighting cyber to traditional defence capability".

The newspaper added that the aim of said negotiations was related to the incorporation of Japanese hypersonic weapon development and the strengthening of electronic warfare capabilities.

[160] Prior to this, in November 2021, former prime minister Shinzo Abe in a virtual address to the Sydney Dialogue, welcomed the creation of AUKUS in the midst of an increasingly severe security environment, and called for greater Japan-AUKUS cooperation and integration concerning artificial intelligence and cyberwarfare capabilities.

[167] On 14 March 2023, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio expressed his support for Australia's planned acquisition of US-made nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS partnership.

[174] French Lowy Institute policy analyst Hervé Lemahieu said the diplomatic damage from the cancellation will take years to repair and leave a lasting legacy of mistrust".

[188] Spokesperson Hua Chunying said "China is firmly opposed to the US, the UK and Australia's malicious exploitation of loopholes in the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards mechanism".

[150] A Chinese Communist Party official, Victor Gao — former interpreter for Deng Xiaoping and vice president of a Beijing think tank, the Center for China and Globalization — considered the move to be a violation of international law and warned that Australia's moves towards nuclear-powered submarines would lead to the country "being targeted with nuclear weapons", in a future nuclear war.