US picks first nuclear submarine for AUKUS base in Australia

The first US Navy nuclear attack submarine to be deployed in Western Australia under the AUKUS defence pact has been named.

The USS Colorado, a Virginia-class nuclear-powered vessel, will be stationed at the HMAS Stirling base on Garden Island in Perth from 2027, the Australian and US governments announced.

Four American submarines and one from the UK will eventually deploy from the base, known as Submarine Rotational Force-West, beginning in late 2027.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the deployment in a statement with Defence Minister Richard Marles and British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting.

American officials have not commented whether individual submarines would be armed with nuclear weapons.

But deployments from HMAS Stirling would come under Australia’s nuclear non-proliferation obligations underpinned by international treaties, the statement says.

Australia, the US and Britain signed the AUKUS deal in 2021 to counter rising Chinese assertiveness in the Asia Pacific.

Under the pact, the Australian navy would acquire eight nuclear-propelled (but not armed) submarines from the US and UK.

Australian taxpayers have so far given a combined $10 billion to the US and Britain to bolster their shipbuilding industries as part of AUKUS.

The final cost for Australia has been estimated at about $368 billion by the mid-2050s.