USS Colorado named as first US nuclear submarine to rotate through WA under AUKUS
The 10-year-old Virginia-class boat will be based at HMAS Stirling from late 2027, the three AUKUS defence ministers said on Tuesday.
The USS Colorado will be the first American nuclear-powered submarine to deploy to Australia under the AUKUS pact. It will be based at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia from late 2027, SBS News and the South China Morning Post reported.
Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the choice on Tuesday in a joint statement with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and UK defence secretary Wes Streeting. SBS News reported that the announcement comes five years after the $386 billion defence pact was signed. "The selection of USS Colorado ... is a decisive step in strengthening collective deterrence in the Pacific," the statement read. According to the Post, the allies called the deployment a "significant milestone".
The Post reported that the Pentagon has assigned the Colorado as the first attack submarine in a rotating force to be based in Western Australia. SBS News said it is the first of up to four US submarines, along with one from Britain, that will rotate through the base while Australian Defence Force personnel learn to own and operate nuclear submarines.
The Colorado is a 10-year-old Virginia-class boat, SBS News reported. The Post said it is 115 metres long and carries land-attack missiles and sophisticated torpedoes. SBS News put its speed at more than 46km/h. Australia's Collins-class submarines have an underwater top speed of 37km/h. Marles has said Australia needs the faster, longer-range vessels to help defend its sea trade.
SBS News reported that the submarine's arrival is likely to be controversial. In late May it was revealed that the US would deliver less than first promised. Under the original AUKUS plans, Australia was to receive two used vessels and a new Virginia-class submarine before building one of its own in Adelaide.
Tasmanian independent senator Jacqui Lambie, an army veteran, described the second-hand vessels as "trash". Ministers and senior military officers said at the time that used submarines were the best option. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said then that AUKUS was going "full-steam ahead" despite changes to the deal, and SBS News reported that Hegseth, Marles and Streeting repeated that message on Tuesday.
Australia's own nuclear submarines will carry conventional weapons. The US has kept a policy of ambiguity over whether assets rotating through the country carry nuclear weapons, SBS News reported. Tuesday's statement said the rotation arrangement will comply with all relevant non-proliferation treaties.
Officials said the Colorado will sail for its new Australian base in late 2027, the Post reported.
Sources: South China Morning Post, Australia to host USS Colorado as first US nuclear submarine under Aukus pact; SBS News, Five years after AUKUS was signed, the first submarine has been named.
