Sen. Shaheen touts Portsmouth shipyard talent as 3 nations ink historic submarine deal

KITTERY, Maine — In March, President Joe Biden and leaders from Australia and the United Kingdom touted a deal that could see Australia purchase three to five U.S. Virginia-class, nuclear-powered submarines and develop a future Australian and United Kingdom submarine model using U.S. technology.

The phased approach, criticized by China’s Foreign Ministry, would “lift all three nations’ submarine industrial bases and undersea capabilities, enhancing deterrence and promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific,” according to a White House announcement released last month. The partnership is known as AUKUS.

How could Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which overhauls nuclear-powered submarines, play a role in the agreement? As of now, officials said they have no details of how the 223-year-old shipyard and other U.S. military facilities could be involved in the partnership or affected by it, but U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen expressed confidence the shipyard was poised to make an "important contribution" as the deal moves forward.

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Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, one of four public shipyards in the United States, has been underdoing a multi-billion-dollar upgrade and expansion of its facilities.

In San Diego last month, Biden, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lauded the agreement, which would develop the SSN-AUKUS submarine for United Kingdom use in the 2030s and for use by the Royal Australian Navy starting in the early 2040s. The United Kingdom and Australia would be building the submarines with British design technology and implementing American submarine technology.

Beginning this year, the United States will increase submarine port visits to Australia, while the United Kingdom will conduct more port visits to Australia starting in 2026. The year following, the U.S. and United Kingdom will kick off a rotational presence between one United Kingdom submarine and upwards of four U.S. subs at the HMAS Stirling Australian naval base near Perth. Under the AUKUS agreement, Australia will remain a nuclear-free country and will not seek to acquire such weapons.

U.S. Department of Defense responds to questions

Asked if Portsmouth Naval Shipyard could see a increase in civilian workers or active military members as a result of the partnership, a defense official noted little is known about the AUKUS impact on American military facilities.

Jeff Jurgensen, spokesperson for the secretary of defense's office, said in a prepared statement there are no current plans for how Portsmouth Naval Shipyard or other bases could be involved.

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“AUKUS is a generational opportunity to strengthen the military capabilities and prosperity of the United States and two vital allies. The U.S. will partner with our AUKUS partners on ensuring sufficient facilities, staffing, and infrastructure is present to support nuclear submarine operations,” he said. “This will include both U.S. organic and defense industrial base sustainment support, as well as growing the existing Australian submarine maintenance capabilities and capacity. Recent announcements regarding AUKUS represent the first steps in a series of future commitments. However, we have no additional information to provide regarding potential impacts to specific industrial base facilities at this time.

“Taken together, this plan augments the investment the U.S. is making in the Submarine Industrial Base to increase capability, capacity, skilled workforce, and improve supply chain to meet the requirements,” Jurgensen added. “It creates additional production capacity, enabling AUKUS partners to grow and sustain the size of our submarine forces as required. Furthermore, it strengthens and makes our trilateral supply chains more resilient, enhancing the industrial bases in all three nations.”

A spokesperson for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard referred questions to the secretary of defense’s office.

Sen. Shaheen says she'll speak up for shipyard's capabilities

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, hailed the “historic trilateral partnership” as an opportunity for the nation to bolster its presence in the Indo-Pacific and advance its military capabilities. The third-term senator serves as senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and co-chairperson of the bipartisan Senate Navy Caucus.

Shaheen said while it’s unknown how Portsmouth Naval Shipyard may be utilized in the AUKUS agreement, she’d remain connected with the Department of Defense on how the yard could be of service.

“Our shipyard workforce is incredibly talented and shoulders the immense responsibility for maintaining our cutting edge Virginia-class submarines, so their talent would be an important contribution to the AUKUS submarine effort,” she said.

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A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson rebuked the agreement following Albanese, Biden and Sunak’s joint appearance in California.

“The latest joint statement issued by the U.S., U.K., and Australia shows that the three countries have gone further down the wrong and dangerous path for their own geopolitical self-interest, completely ignoring the concerns of the international community,” said Wang Wenbin.

The AUKUS agreement was formally launched in September 2021 by the three partners.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Shaheen touts shipyard talent as 3 nations ink AUKUS submarine deal