AUKUS Submarine Program

In Washington on Dec. 8, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles for annual talks focused on Indo-Pacific security, AUKUS, and supply-chain resilience. Hegseth said Australia will deliver an additional $1 billion to help expand U.S. submarine production capacity as the allies press “full steam ahead” on AUKUS, while a State Department readout said Rubio and Wong also discussed combating online scam operations and strategic infrastructure projects across the Pacific.