The future warhead to replace submarine-launched Trident systems will be developed as a "sovereign" capability and "in parallel" with the US W93/Mk7 warhead, according to the Defence Nuclear Enterprise Command Paper.
“The opportunity for our Navy personnel to learn from our AUKUS partners demonstrates meaningful progress along Australia’s pathway to acquiring nuclear-powered submarines,” Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
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Sidharth Kaushal, research fellow at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute defense think tank, said AUKUS will likely make a Chinese attack on Taiwan, "decidedly less appealing."
“The key strategic risk remains we might need the SSNs much earlier than the proposed schedule," Neil James, executive director of the non-partisan watchdog, the Australia Defence Association, said.
Invitations may extend beyond US and UK in what Australian defense minister called a "new normal" of uncertainty in the Pacific.
"What I would say as well, is that dealing with this immediate situation is of course, an absolute priority, but the free world," Liz Truss said, "also needs to work together to reduce economic dependence on Russia, to put in place the agreements that help countries have alternatives in terms of trade and investment."
The challenge for Western democratic institutions is not a lack of capability — it is a structural one.
Analyst Tim Walton thinks it'd be wise for Australia to field other, complementary undersea warfare capabilities such as "the Transformational Reliable Acoustic Path System and mobile sensors such as Wave Gliders with towed arrays to inexpensively monitor straits and ocean areas."
Arthur Culvahouse Jr., who served as US Ambassador to Australia from 2019 to 2021, makes the case for why AUKUS needs to be the start, not the end, of strengthening industrial ties with the US.