A bipartisan group of United States politicians have publicly thrown their weight behind the AUKUS pact after two powerful US Senators warned that selling Virginia-class nuclear submarines to Australia could stretch the US industrial base to "breaking point."
Last week a US Defence news website revealed that the Democratic chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed, and a former Republican colleague had urged the US president not to sell US built submarines to Australia under the partnership.
While the Australia, the United Kingdom and the US will only announce the pathway for Australia to obtain nuclear-powered submarines in March, there has been speculation that the Biden administration may sell or transfer a small number of nuclear-powered boats to the Albanese government to ensure it doesn't face a "capability gap" when the Collins class subs retire.
"Over the past year, we have grown more concerned about the state of the US submarine industrial base as well as its ability to support the desired AUKUS SSN [nuclear subs] end state," Democratic Senator Jack Reed and the now retired Republican senator James Inhofe wrote.
In the correspondence dated December 21, which was later leaked, the pair was quoted as saying "we believe current conditions require a sober assessment of the facts to avoid stressing the US submarine industrial base to the breaking point".
On Monday, Senator Reed seemed to partly moderate his position, publicly declaring his support for the partnership that was struck in September 2021 by US President Joe Biden, along with former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and former UK leader Boris Johnson.
"I'm proud to support AUKUS, the United States' historic military agreement with the UK and Australia," the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman tweeted.
"This powerful partnership is central to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, dramatically improving the capabilities of our allies, and increasing our engagement in the region."
Now a group of nine Republican and Democratic congressional representatives have also weighed into the public debate, writing to President Joe Biden to back AUKUS, and championing the idea of the US providing submarines directly to Australia.
"Far from a zero-sum game, the potential for the United States to provide or build new submarines under AUKUS, should that be the recommendation of the trilateral consultation, could very well be a 'rising tide that lifts all boats'," the letter said.
While Senators Reed and Inhofe warned that eroding industrial capability was already stretching the US capability to the point where it would struggle to meet its own military requirements, the Congressional representatives said AUKUS could provide a fresh infusion of cash to help it ramp up production.
"While it is essential to maintain a minimum of two submarines a year for the United States to meet our national security requirements, we are supportive of expanding the industrial base to meet AUKUS expectations," the US politicians wrote.
"We particularly believe that an expansion of our industrial base beyond two submarines would support the early provisioning of existing Virginia class submarines to be made available concurrent with the retirement of the Collins class attack submarines."
On Tuesday, China's ambassador to Canberra used a rare media appearance to publicly denounce the AUKUS deal, warning it would be an "unnecessary consumption of the Australian taxpayers' money".
'Australia a trusted and reliable partner'
Opposition Leader, and former defence minister Peter Dutton is standing by his belief that the United States should initially sell Australia two Virginia-class submarines as it works to acquire its own nuclear-powered fleet.
"We all have a great deal of respect for our American friends, they rightly point out the constraints that exist within their supply chain," he told the ABC's 7.30 program.
"Australia would come to the table with the ability to potentially increase that output, it may be that the three countries are looking at a common platform so there is the ability for the three countries to be involved in the production process.
"There are different ways in which you can slice and dice this issue, but it comes down to the reality that Australia is a trusted and reliable partner with the United States and the United Kingdom and I think the times ahead will demand that of us."
