Two years after AUKUS announcement, American politicians are divided on delivery of subs to Australia

News Snapshot:

A Republican senator has renewed calls for the US to step up its production of nuclear-powered submarines before selling them as part of AUKUS, arguing America is as "unprepared" as it was ahead of the Pearl Harbor attack. The US is set to transfer at least three Virginia-class submarines to Australia from the early 2030s under the AUKUS agreement. However, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services committee, Roger Wicker, told a hearing in Washington this week that the US was failing to meet its own shipbuilding targets. "We should be producing somewhere between 2.3 and 2.5 attack submarines...