Commentary
Will the AUKUS nuclear subs consume the Australian budget? It’s a good question. The expenditure is huge in Australian terms.
The total deal is currently worth $386 billion (US$260 billion) and will be spread out over 30 years. So, on average, it will cost $12 billion a year. This is about one-third of the annual defence budget, which is $38 billion.
The submarine acquisition will be the single largest piece of defence procurement ever, in absolute and percentage terms.
There is no way that this can be contained within the existing budget without cutting vital defence infrastructure and services, and restricting purchases of other necessary defence items….