AUKUS Navy Chiefs Strengthen Ties During First Tri-Lateral Visit to HMAS Stirling

The Chiefs of Navy for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States strengthened their naval ties during a visit to HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.

Australia’s Chief of Navy, Vice Adm. Mark Hammond AO, RAN, hosted his international counterparts, the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and the U.K. First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Adm. Ben Key KCB CBE ADC, ahead of the Indian Ocean Defence and Security 2024 Conference in Perth.

The July 23 visit was the first time Franchetti and Key had visited HMAS Stirling, which will play a role in Australia’s future fleet of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines. 

The three chiefs received a tour of the base’s facilities, followed by a meet-and-greet with Australian submariners on-board a Collins-class submarine.

They also signed a Statement of Intent for Lethality, which documents the three navies collective commitment to the enhanced lethality of their surface combatant and submarine fleets.

The visit finished with a showcase of the Royal Australian Navy’s most contemporary and cutting-edge autonomous systems capabilities.

The Royal Australian Navy’s Chief, Hammond said that the visit was a reminder of the power of their partnership.

“Our navies operate on shared behaviors, shared values, and a shared commitment to the success and security of the Indo-Pacific region," said Hammond. “Today my counterparts and I reaffirmed our philosophy of putting our partnership into action and continue to build on the historic friendship between our Navies." 

“Working together is how we get the best outcomes for our navies and nations, through personnel exchange programs and operational interchangeability at sea. Only this month we had our first Royal Australian Navy officers graduating from the Royal Navy’s Nuclear Reactor Course. This year our technicians have been training and learning unique skills with the U.S. Navy in Guam and embedded on-board the U.S. Submarine Tender, USS Emory S. Land (AS 39).”

The U.S. Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations, Franchetti said, “AUKUS is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring together the exceptional capabilities of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. We will continue to build on our relationship, strengths, and interoperability, while at the same time uplifting the industrial bases of our three countries. We will bring to bear the innovative spirit of our three nations while significantly bolstering our posture in the Indo-Pacific, contributing to security and stability, and maintaining the rules-based international order in this critical region and around the globe.”

The U.K. Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Key said, “Building on longstanding, deep-rooted relationships, and reflecting the unique level of trust and cooperation between our countries, we celebrate the success of AUKUS thus far and look forward to continue the collective delivery on our commitment. AUKUS is a strategically important capability collaboration, allowing us to pool expertise to accelerate the development of cutting-edge defense capabilities in a way that we could not do alone. Alongside the USN, the RN is committed to ensuring the RAN can build on its proven experience of operating conventional powered submarines to be nuclear capable as well. We have recently welcomed RAN personnel onto our nuclear courses and to serve in our Astute class submarines and we look forward to sharing the next generation of SSNs in a collaborative build program which will shape our partnership for many decades to come.”