Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 25, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleA Biden adviser defends the AUKUS submarine project, highlighting its strategic importance despite production and cost challenges.
By David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An adviser to the Biden administration on the AUKUS project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines warned on Monday against its cancellation amid a Pentagon review, but highlighted a wide range of problems that need to be resolved for it to succeed.
In a joint paper authored with a former State Department official, Abraham Denmark recognized the need for "a thorough review of AUKUS by the Trump administration."
But he added: "Should AUKUS fail or be scrapped, the United States would become less capable in the Indo-Pacific ... its international credibility would be dramatically undercut, deterrence would be undermined, and propaganda from Beijing and Moscow declaring the unreliability of American commitments would gain significant credibility."
The paper, written for Washington's Center for the Strategic and International Studies think tank, listed well-known problems that need to be addressed, including lagging U.S. submarine production rates and the question of whether Australia would use submarines supplied by the U.S. in an Indo-Pacific conflict while depleting U.S. resources in acquiring them.
The report also highlighted the high costs of AUKUS - it is estimated it will cost Australia $240 billion (A$368 billion) over more than 30 years - a shortage of skilled labor for submarine production in all three countries, and other practical issues such as a lack of progress in ensuring "AUKUS visas" to facilitate movement for people involved in the project.
It also pointed at a vague focus of the so-called Pillar Two of AUKUS aimed at collaboration in high-tech weaponry and said this needs to be narrowed.
The report, which Denmark co-authored with Charles Edel, a former State Department official now also at CSIS, said despite the issues, "shoring up AUKUS" was a "strategic imperative."
It said AUKUS would "boost the United States' defense industrial base, strengthen its closest allies, send a powerful deterrent message to Beijing, and help stabilize the (Indo-Pacific) region."
Details of the AUKUS plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the early 2030s were unveiled in 2023 under former President Joe Biden, part of efforts to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
The Pentagon has said a review it announced in June of the three-way collaboration between Australia, Britain and the United States to ensure it aligns with President Donald Trump's "America First agenda" will be completed in the autumn.
The review has been led by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's under secretary of defense for policy, who has previously expressed concern the U.S. would lose submarines to Australia at a critical time for deterrence against China.
Last month, the Republican and Democratic heads of a U.S. congressional committee for strategic competition with China stressed their strong support for AUKUS.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chris Reese)
The AUKUS submarine project is a collaboration between the United States, Australia, and the UK to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, aimed at enhancing defense capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.
Concerns include the high costs estimated at $240 billion for Australia, a shortage of skilled labor for submarine production, and the need for a clearer focus on high-tech weaponry collaboration.
The project is deemed a strategic imperative as it is expected to bolster the U.S. defense industrial base, strengthen alliances, deter threats from Beijing, and stabilize the Indo-Pacific region.
The report was co-authored by Abraham Denmark, an adviser to the Biden administration, and Charles Edel, a former State Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Pentagon's review aims to ensure that the AUKUS collaboration aligns with the strategic priorities of the U.S., particularly in the context of the 'America First' approach advocated by former President Trump.
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