WASHINGTON
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed his Australian and British counterparts to the Pentagon on Wednesday to discuss the trilateral security partnership.
Ahead of the annual AUKUS defense ministers' meeting, Hegseth, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles, and the UK's Secretary of State for Defense John Healey held a news conference.
"The discussions we've had are a reflection of both Australia and the UK stepping up. And you see through AUKUS and the review that we conducted a continued commitment to a pragmatic, practical application of hard power between our countries that reflect peace through strength and also hard power real capabilities that demonstrate a deterrent effect that we all want," said Hegseth.
He added the goal is peace on behalf of the American, Australian and British people, and "we pursue that together on behalf of our leadership."
In September 2021, the three countries signed the AUKUS pact, under which Canberra would receive Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. The first deliveries are expected to begin in 2032.
Marles said Australia is "very excited" about the progress in relation to AUKUS.
"The last 12 months has seen a lot of progress in relation to AUKUS. In the last six weeks, we've had the USS Vermont in HMAS Stirling, south of Perth in Australia, undertaking the most extensive maintenance of an American nuclear-powered submarine outside of America ever. And it is an example of what we are doing together. But this is a massive project, and there is so much more to do," he added.
He said Canberra is expected to discuss the delivery during the meeting.
Healey said AUKUS is "quite simply the most important" military collaboration for the last 70 years since the US and the UK first agreed in Washington, DC, in 1958 to share nuclear technology.
"All three of us are now determined to reboot AUKUS with a new commitment and a new determination, in particular, to deliver. So, the reviews are done, it's time to deliver. And when we talk about delivery, we talk about the most powerful, most feared attack submarine the world has ever seen, the apex predator of the seas," he said.
AUKUS embodies the way that a nation can secure strength through alliances, said Healey. "And in the face of this new era, we need those alliances more than ever. We need more subs in the Indo-Pacific and in the Euro Atlantic."