Shared Challenges, AUKUS Partnership Top Topics as U.S., Australian Defense Leaders Meet for First Time

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met today with his counterpart Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles during a bilateral meeting at the Pentagon to discuss shared defense roles, security priorities, and the challenges and opportunities both nations see in the Indo-Pacific.

It’s the first such meeting Hegseth has had with one of his counterparts, though he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Feb. 5, 2025. 

A big part of their discussion involved progress on the Australia, U.K. and U.S. trilateral security agreement, known as AUKUS, which has been in place for just over three years. 

The first pillar of that agreement involves the delivery of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability to Australia and also significant investments in the industrial bases of all three partner nations. 

As part of that plan, Australia will buy three Virginia-class submarines from the U.S. to be delivered in the 2030s. Together, all three partner nations will also develop a new platform called “SSN-AUKUS,” which is expected to be ready for use by the U.K. in the 2030s and by Australia in the 2040s. 

The second AUKUS pillar involves enhancing joint capabilities and interoperability between the three nations. 

Hegseth said President Donald J. Trump is very familiar with the agreement and equally supportive of it. 

“The president … recognizes the importance of the defense industrial base,” Hegseth said. “It enhances our ability in the [subsurface] space, but also our allies and partners … this is not a mission in the Indo-Pacific that America can undertake by itself. It has to [include] robust allies and partners. Technology sharing and subs are a huge part of it.” 

A big part of AUKUS involves Australia investing heavily in the U.S. submarine industrial base. This week, in advance of Marles’ visit with Hegseth, Australia made the first payment of $500 million toward a $3 billion promised investment. 

“AUKUS is a very powerful symbol of our two countries working together in the Indo-Pacific,” Marles said. “It represents a very significant increase of the American footprint on the Australian continent, something that we very much welcome. It represents an increase in Australian capability through the acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine capability. But what comes with that is it also represents an increase in Australian defense.” 

 He said Australia wants and is willing to pay for an increase in its defense. 

“We really understand the importance of building our capability, but [also] in paying our way,” he said. “That is a very important principle that we bring to bear, and one of the aspects of that is the contribution that we’re making to your industrial base.”