Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) hosted Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy at its Newport News Shipbuilding Charleston Operations facility in Goose Creek, S.C. July 27, with aims to underscore cooperation under the AUKUS security partnership.
Under the tripartite AUKUS agreement, the U.S. government plans to sell three to five nuclear-powered attack submarines, or SSNs, starting in the early 2030s as Australia works up to start to produce its own domestically-made SSN-AUKUS boats in the early 2040s.
The visit included a tour of the manufacturing facility and discussions with HII executives about the company’s distributed shipbuilding initiative, which is intended to increase production capacity and meet growing demand for naval vessels. According to HII, production at the Charleston site has increased by more than 50% since the company acquired the facility, supporting U.S. Navy shipbuilding programs.
“It was a pleasure to tour this facility and see firsthand the capability established here, and the impact it is already having on the U.S. submarine industrial base,” Conroy said in a statement. He added he looks forward to seeing Australian-made components incorporated into U.S. production lines, calling it a demonstration of the industrial cooperation envisioned under AUKUS.
HII said the visit underscores its support for AUKUS, the trilateral partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States aimed at helping Australia acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines while expanding collaboration on advanced defense capabilities.
The company is also leading the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Program, which works to identify, develop and qualify Australian suppliers for participation in U.S. and U.K. nuclear submarine supply chains. HII has said the program is designed to strengthen Australia’s sovereign industrial capability while helping address capacity constraints across the allied submarine enterprise.