PERTH – In the control room of the American Virginia-class attack submarine USS Minnesota, off the Western Australian coast, sonar operators adjust to the chatter of dolphins in new waters where the US submarine presence will soon grow significantly.
On a training exercise from its home port in Guam, the USS Minnesota is a forerunner to four Virginia-class submarines that will be hosted at a Western Australian naval base from 2027, under the Aukus partnership to transfer nuclear submarine capability to Australia.
Crew use video game joysticks to interrogate screen images from a photonic mast that has replaced a periscope. Life aboard can mean up to 100 days without seeing sunlight, and intermittent communication with families via e-mail to maintain stealth.
Commanding officer Jeffrey Corneille says the Virginia-class submarine is “the most advanced warship in the world”.
“If someone wakes up and they say, ‘Is today the day?’, we make sure that they say ‘Maybe not’,” he says, describing its deterrent role.
Around 50 to 80 United States navy personnel will arrive by the middle of 2025 at Western Australia’s HMAS Stirling base, which is undergoing an A$8 billion (S$6.7 billion) upgrade to prepare for the “Submarine Rotational Force West”, Australian officials have said.
In two years, those numbers will swell to hundreds of US navy personnel and support crew.
The location of HMAS Stirling, closer to Asia and the Indian Ocean than the US Pacific fleet headquarters in Hawaii, is strategically important to the US, said Mr Peter Dean, director of foreign policy and defence at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
“Defending the Indian Ocean against rising Chinese capabilities and power is important,” he said.
The Virginia submarine programme has been exempted from Pentagon budget cuts as the Trump administration focuses less on the Middle East and Europe, and more on the Indo-Pacific, he said.
The Trump administration’s No. 3 Pentagon official, Mr Elbridge Colby, told a US Senate confirmation hearing in March the attack submarines are “absolutely essential” for making the defence of Taiwan viable, and production rates must be lifted to first meet US needs and also to fulfill its obligations to sell submarines to Australia under the Aukus pact.
Master Chief Missile Technician Kevin Lewis Minnesota stands atop the Virginia-class submarine USS Minnesota.PHOTO: REUTERS
The USS Minnesota moved its home port from Hawaii to the US Pacific territory of Guam, closer to Taiwan and the only forward-deployed US submarine base, in November.
A Chinese navy task group that circumnavigated Australia in February and March, holding unprecedented live fire drills off the east coast that disrupted commercial airlines, before passing Western Australia to coincide with the USS Minnesota’s port call and heading into the Indian Ocean, has highlighted China’s ambition to operate more frequently in Australia’s neighbourhood, Australian officials said.
Under Aukus, Australia’s most expensive defence project, Australia will buy two used Virginia-class submarines next decade, and build a new class of nuclear powered submarine with Britain, to replace its ageing diesel powered fleet.
In preparation, there are 115 Australians in the US nuclear navy training pipeline or on Virginia submarines, plus 130 training for nuclear submarine maintenance at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, US navy officials said. REUTERS
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