AUKUS goes ‘full steam ahead’ as partners shift from review to delivery

December 11, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

The trilateral AUKUS partnership is moving “full steam ahead” into the delivery phase after the United States completed the review, accelerating plans to field next-generation submarines and advanced defense technologies to bolster deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions.

Defence Secretary John Healey joined his counterparts, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles, at the Pentagon on December 10, 2025. The officials held a meeting to discuss the progress on AUKUS.

With global instability on the rise, the three nations agreed that AUKUS must now move at pace to translate its plans into tangible capability.

Furthermore, the meeting marked a decisive shift towards delivery for submarine development and turning advanced military technology projects into frontline warfighting capabilities under Pillar II.

AUKUS partners test underwater autonomous systems

UUV/UAV

According to the government officials, SSN-AUKUSs will be the most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy. The partnership will expand Britain’s submarine fleet with up to twelve attack boats. Now, the UK is backing this commitment with action, investing £6 billion under the current government into critical infrastructure at Barrow and Derby that will “realize the ability to construct a new AUKUS submarine every 18 months”.

“This is full steam ahead for AUKUS. Our reviews are done. Now, we deliver. In this new era of threat, with adversaries who are increasingly cooperating, business as usual is not an option,” Healey said.

He added that the AUKUS partnership was too important, with stakes too high, to be allowed to drift, stressing that the priority now is removing any barriers to delivery and that the UK is fully committed.

Additionally, Britain is also providing increased technical and military assistance to Australia through the Geelong Treaty to accelerate Australian capability to operate nuclear-powered submarines.

To remind, the agreement, inked on July 26, 2025, marks a commitment for the next 50 years of UK-Australian bilateral defense cooperation under AUKUS Pillar I.