Pentagon says AUKUS aligns with US security Iinterests

The Pentagon has endorsed the AUKUS security pact following a five-month review, its spokesman confirmed on Friday.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced in a statement that the review had concluded, according to a report by ABC News.

"Consistent with President Trump's guidance that AUKUS should move 'full steam ahead,' the review identified opportunities to put AUKUS on the strongest possible footing," he said.

In September 2021, the US, the UK, and Australia signed the AUKUS pact, under which Canberra would receive Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

US President Donald Trump initiated a review of the A$368 billion ($247 billion) AUKUS pact in June to assess whether it aligns with his "America First" policy priorities.

Congressman Joe Courtney, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, said in a statement on Thursday that committee members examined the still-unreleased assessment, which concluded the agreement aligns with US national security interests.

"The Pentagon's five-month review endorsed the AUKUS agreement and correctly determined that its framework is aligned with our country's national security interests," he said. "...The statutory authority enacted by Congress in 2023 will remain intact, including the sale of three Virginia-class submarines starting in 2032."

Courtney added that expanding the US submarine workforce and shipbuilding capacity is essential to meeting future fleet needs for both the US and Australia.

Australia's Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said in a Thursday press release: "We have received the AUKUS review. We are working through it, and we are very grateful to the United States for providing it to us."

"What's important here is that the United States is fully supportive of AUKUS, as the president of the United States has made clear," he added.

The first deliveries of the submarines are expected to begin in 2032.