U.S. controls on sensitive defense exports, relaxed for AUKUS partner Australia last year, still apply to submarines, creating hurdles to defense industry collaboration on U.S. Virginia-class sub production, officials and executives said.
Whether the United States can overcome production delays to meet U.S. Navy targets is key to whether Australia can buy three Virginia-class nuclear powered submarines under AUKUS, Defense Minister Richard Marles said last month. Australia faces a 2025 deadline to pay $2 billion of the $3 billion it has pledged to improve the U.S. submarine industrial base.
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has been tasked by U.S. President Donald Trump with reviewing navy procurement, in an executive order on shipbuilding that also refers to American-made components and reducing regulations.
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