“I’m very relieved,” said Courtney,who is regarded as one of US Congress’ top experts on shipbuilding and submarines. “This is a very significant accomplishment for all the parties involved. A lot of people have been holding their breath to see whether Congress takes this seriously.”
The AUKUS submarine plan hit trouble in July when 23 Republican senators,including Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell,wrote to US President Joe Biden saying they did not support the proposal to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia unless the US doubled its own domestic production capacity.
The Senate and House armed services committees on Friday unveiled the final version of the annual National Defence Authorisation Act,which includes a provision for Australia to acquire three nuclear-powered submarines from the United States.
The bill will also loosen defence export controls on Australia and the United Kingdom while allowing Australia to be treated as a domestic supplier of key materials such as rare earths.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the federal government was “heartened and hopeful by the news coming out of the United States”.
“It’s obviously a matter for the US Congress,but we are hopeful of a good result,” he said,adding that the Royal Australian Navy was on the verge of a “once in a generation change”.