As with 2025, early 2026 again sees AUKUS, Australia’s plan to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine capability, back in the headlines. This time the focus is claims by a former Royal Navy admiral and former director of nuclear policy in the UK Ministry of Defence about the parlous state of the UK’s nuclear submarine industrial base.

And he’s right. From the availability of the UK’s nuclear-powered attack boats and nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, the more than a decade it took to build the recently commissioned HMS Agamemnon, and concerns about nuclear core production, the challenges are real. But they do not spell failure for Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine ambition under AUKUS, nor for the co-design and co-build of an AUKUS-class submarine. AUKUS helps address some of these challenges for the UK, which needs AUKUS to succeed. Despite the headlines, AUKUS is not on the rocks.

Despite the headlines, AUKUS is not on the rocks. Credit: AP

So what are the UK’s challenges? In short, they are serious and largely the product of decades of underinvestment, limited focus, and a shortage of experienced personnel. The UK operates both nuclear-powered attack submarines and nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, and the strain across this force should not be underestimated.

There were credible reports in 2025........

© The Sydney Morning Herald