WASHINGTON — It is being called a "generational opportunity."
In September 2021, leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced the creation of "AUKUS." The pact is intended to strengthen the ability of each government to support security and defense interests and would serve as a force multiplier for the United States in the crucial Indo-Pacific region.
Under this partnership, Australia plans to buy at least three and as many as five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines in the 2030s, which are built in part at Newport News Shipbuilding.
"This AUKUS partnership is very exciting to me. And it's also exciting because the Virginia-class submarines are built in Virginia and Connecticut," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia).
Australia has agreed to invest $3 billion in the U.S. submarine-industrial base. By the 2040s, Australia hopes to begin building the subs on their own.
But sometimes the devil is in the details.
As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee discussed turning the pact into a reality on Wednesday, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) questioned the cost to American taxpayers.
"Do you believe there will be additional stress on the defense budget?" he asked Mara Karlin, the Assistant Secretary of Defense
Karlin replied: "I do not see that there is additional stress on the defense budget due to AUKUS. I see at the strategic level AUKUS being immensely helpful for what we are trying to achieve strategically in trying to ensure that we have deterrence in the Indo-Pacific."
The Congressional Research Office points out there's much at stake. In a report published this week, the agency said, "Decisions that Congress makes... could substantially affect U.S. Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base."