US will have access to Western Australia nuclear submarine shipyard

14/9/2025 12:39

The United States will be able to use planned defence facilities in Western Australia that are to help deliver nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday.



Australia will spend A$12 billion to upgrade facilities at the Henderson shipyard near Perth, as part of a 20-year plan to transform it into the maintenance hub for its AUKUS submarine fleet, the government said on Saturday.



The AUKUS pact, sealed by Australia, Britain and the U.S. in 2021, aims to provide Australia with attack submarines from the next decade to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.



President Donald Trump's administration is undertaking a formal review of the pact led by Elbridge Colby, a top Pentagon policy official and public critic of the agreement.



Asked on Sunday if the U.S. would be able to use dry docks at the facility for its nuclear-powered submarines, Marles said, "This is an AUKUS facility and so I would expect so."