AUKUS review was ‘best thing’ for trilateral pact: Colby

WASHINGTON — A 2025 review of the AUKUS agreement has given the US, Australia and the UK an opportunity to have more candid conversations about the challenges facing the trilateral agreement, according to a senior Pentagon official.

Initiated by the Trump administration last year, the AUKUS review allowed the US to communicate more openly with its two partners about the agreement’s progress, production timelines and budget realities, according to Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby. Speaking today at the Submarine League Annual Symposium, Colby called the review “the best thing” that ever happened to the trilateral pact.

“If we’re going to actually do this, here’s how it’s going to work, and we’re going to give you as much heads up as possible,” Colby said. He added that failing to address those challenges directly — and instead simply hoping the agreement would work out — would actually undermine AUKUS.

It also prompted what he described as “very productive conversations” with Australia about “reconciling and understanding” how the submarines should be employed, while acknowledging that “everybody has political constraints.”

“At some point in the 2030s, a president’s gonna make a decision to go ahead with this,” Colby said. “We want to understand and operate like in the way that we operate in NATO, which is, … all the alliance leaders have the political authority about whether they’re committed or not.”

The AUKUS agreement was first inked under the Biden administration. Under Pillar I, the US agreed to sell at least three Virginia-class submarines to Australia in the 2030s, while the trio of nations work toward developing a new class of SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian and British navies. The agreement’s subsequent Pillar II focuses on cooperation among the three nations to develop and field advanced military capabilities.

Within six months of US President Trump’s second term, his administration announced a review of the agreement to assess whether it aligned with the president’s “America First” agenda. By October 2025, Trump had reaffirmed his support for the pact.

“At the end of the day, this is a practical arrangement that involves the eventual sale of our crown jewels, our military capabilities,” Colby said.

In a separate speech at the symposium today, Rear Adm. Chris Cavanaugh, commander of submarine forces for US Pacific Fleet, said the three nations are on schedule with AUKUS plans — with some aspects even progressing faster than expected.

“The most consequential allied initiative is AUKUS, which is on plan and in several areas ahead of schedule,” Cavanaugh added. “I see progress in AUKUS every day.”

 Diana Stancy contributed to this report.