Turnbull says AUKUS subs deal is sunk

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says Australia is at risk of never acquiring the submarines it was promised under the AUKUS agreement after the US Navy confirmed a fresh blow to the security deal.

Under the Biden administration’s proposed budget, just one Virginia-class submarine would be ordered in 2025, down from the expected two.

The decision has raised concerns about the timeline in which Australia would receive its first nuclear powered submarine as the transfer of the vessels is dependent on US production targets.

Speaking with the ABC, Mr Turnbull said Australia had been “mugged by reality” and cast doubt on US ability to ramp up production in time to provide the promised vessels.

“The reality is the Americans are not going to make their submarine deficit worse than it is already by giving or selling submarines to Australia, and the AUKUS legislation actually sets that up,” Mr Turnbull told ABC radio on Wednesday. “We are bobbing along as a cork in the maelstrom of American politics.

“Unless the Americans are able to dramatically change the pace at which they’re producing submarines, and there’s no reason to believe they will be able to do so, we will not ever get the submarines that were promised. This is what happens when a sovereign nation abandons its sovereignty.”

Under the deal inked a year ago, the first three US nuclear power submarines would be transferred by early 2030s should the US meet its own production targets of 2.3 vessels per year, up from a current average of 1.2.