AUKUS explainers

Short background pieces on the AUKUS partnership, each sourced to official statements.

Updated 21 October 2026

• What is AUKUS?A security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, built around nuclear-powered submarines and shared military technology.
• Pillar 1: submarine timelineHow Australia plans to get from no nuclear-powered submarines to building its own, as the three governments laid it out in 2023.
• Pillar 2: advanced capabilitiesThe submarines get the headlines. Pillar 2 is the slower, quieter work on the technology the three militaries expect to need next.
• AUKUS and Australia's budgetThe Government's own figures, as published when the submarine plan was announced in March 2023.