US Navy names USS Colorado as first AUKUS submarine based in Australia - Navy Lookout
Naming USS Colorado as the first US Virginia-class boat to be based in Australia converts the Submarine Rotational Force-West concept into a specific, scheduled presence at HMAS Stirling, and with it the infrastructure, maintenance and workforce obligations Australia has committed to. It brings forward the practical test of whether Henderson and Western Australian support facilities can sustain nuclear-powered submarine operations years before Australia owns its own boats. It also deepens the US operational footprint in the Indian Ocean approaches, with the attendant questions of basing access, command arrangements and strategic signalling to Beijing.
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