Washington: The Pentagon says its review of the AUKUS pact with Australia is in its final stages, but it now agrees the agreement will bring “significant benefit” for US strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Confirmation that the War Department’s policy unit supports the deal came in a congressional hearing where Republican senators once again expressed frustrations about the secrecy surrounding the AUKUS review, and other defence matters concerning United States allies.

Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles (left), Elbridge Colby (centre), who is leading the US review into AUKUS, and a US Navy Virginia-class submarine.

Alexander Velez-Green, the senior adviser to war undersecretary Elbridge Colby , said the review was “in its final stages” and had been a use

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