Aukus should expand to other shipbuilding nations, US congressman suggests, as Albanese returns to Australia
Senior US House armed services committee member says Washington must boost own manufacturing before it can sell nuclear submarines to Australia
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A leading US congressman admits the US must substantially boost its defence manufacturing capacity in order to sell Australia nuclear submarines under Aukus, floating the idea of adding Japan, South Korea or Norway to the pact to help build more ships.
Anthony Albanese has returned from Washington DC with Donald Trump's endorsement of Aukus and a fresh show of support from longtime backers of the military pact in the US congress. Both Republican and Democratic politicians reaffirmed their support to help Australia buy second-hand US nuclear submarines, even as concerns still remain about whether US shipyards - currently not working fast enough to meet the US navy's own requirements - can produce enough boats to sell to Australia.
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