Antinuclear

AUKUS submarine builds hit by contract and construction delays

ABC, By Brad Ryan in Washington DC, Thu 23 Apr

In short:

The US needs to significantly lift the pace of production of nuclear-powered submarines in order to sell several of the boats to Australia under the AUKUS agreement.

But more than two years after the US Congress authorised the Pentagon to award a major submarine-building contract, it remains unsigned.

New research for Congress says the submarines’ construction timelines are also getting longer, and the boats are now being delivered four years after the dates that were originally scheduled.

The US Navy’s submarine-building program — which Australia is relying on for its naval fleet — risks another slowdown due to delays awarding a critical construction contract.

Meanwhile, new research says construction timelines for the nuclear-powered submarines keep blowing out, and they are now being built four years behind schedule.

The contract and construction delays are both affecting the production of Virginia-class submarines, which Australia intends to buy from the US under the AUKUS security pact.

Australia expects to receive at least three of the submarines in the 2030s.

But the sales will only go ahead if the US can build enough of the boats for its own fleet. That requires a significant improvement in the pace of production, the US Navy admits.

“Clearly, there are entities or bureaucrats in the [Trump] administration that are not all in on this goal,” congressman Joe Courtney, who founded the bipartisan AUKUS Working Group, said.

“The Virginia-class … multi-year contracts continue to be delayed, despite all consensus that procurement stability will strengthen investment in facilities and workforce.”

Congress gave the Pentagon authorisation to award the contract in December, 2023 — meaning it has remained unsigned for about 28 months.

The previous comparable contract was awarded within 20 months, Mr Courtney told the ABC.

‘Particularly worrisome’ construction blow-outs

Separate to the contract issue, new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) research adds to existing doubts about the navy’s prospects of picking up the pace of construction.

The US’s military industrial base has been struggling with production that has lagged behind targets for years.

But CBO naval analyst Eric Labs, in written testimony for Congress, said the problem appeared to be worsening.

“What makes the delays … particularly worrisome is that they are long-established shipbuilding programs that previously delivered ships in much shorter timelines,” he wrote.

Military submarines that took 5–6 years to build in the early 2000s were now taking an average of 9–10 years.

“In addition, the delays increased slightly from 2025 to 2026, despite substantial investments to reduce them.”

Some of those investments have more recently come from the Australian government, which is contributing more than $4 billion to help the US fast-track the submarines’ construction.

Mr Labs’s research says building extra submarines for the AUKUS deal will add “another challenge to an already stressed production line”.

Pentagon ‘aware of the urgency’ to award contract…………………………………….

Congress warned of ‘potential for further deterioration’ in build rate

Any additional delays in the shipbuilding program risk exacerbating existing fears that the US will not be able to deliver the submarines as intended under AUKUS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-23/shipbuilding-contract-delays-could-affect-aukus-submarines/106596728

April 24, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | weapons and war