USS Minnesota (SSN-783) Virginia-class fast attack submarine off the west Australian coast on March 16, 2025. Colin Murty/Pool/AP Sydney Reuters —

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday that the United States would be able to use planned defense facilities in Western Australia to help deliver submarines under the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.

The government on Saturday said it would spend A$12 billion ($8 billion) to upgrade facilities at the Henderson shipyard near Perth, as part of a 20-year plan to transform it into the maintenance hub for its AUKUS submarine fleet.

The AUKUS pact, agreed upon by Australia, Britain and the US in 2021, aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the next decade to counter China’s ambitions in the I

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