Overview

• The funding upgrades Henderson in Western Australia into an AUKUS-focused maintenance hub with new high-security dry docks and specialized nuclear-servicing infrastructure.
• Defense Minister Richard Marles said he expects the United States to use the facility’s dry docks because it is being built as an AUKUS site.
• The plan also equips the precinct to build Army landing craft and new general-purpose frigates, with eventual Mogami-class construction envisioned, supporting about 10,000 local jobs.
• Australia’s stated goal is to acquire at least three U.S. Virginia-class submarines within 15 years before moving to domestically built nuclear-powered boats.
• Officials called the A$12 billion an initial commitment within a broader program that could reach about A$25 billion, anchored by a new 50-year UK–Australia treaty on submarine cooperation.