Australia must recruit hundreds more to crew Aukus submarines, retired admiral warns

Australia faces an uphill battle to recruit and train enough naval personnel to serve on submarines planned for the future fleet of nuclear-powered vessels under the controversial $368bn Aukus deal, a retired admiral has warned.

As the Virginia-class submarine USS Colorado arrived at HMAS Stirling south of Perth on Tuesday for a month of routine maintenance and to help build Australian expertise, retired admiral Peter Briggs said more people needed to be enrolled in the navy’s submarine program.

As part of a $368bn trilateral defence deal, Australia will acquire between three and five Virginia-class, nuclear-powered submarines from the United States to replace its five diesel-electric Collins-class vessels, which are becoming obsolete.

The new submarines are much bigger and require up to 134 crew – almost three times the number needed for the Collins class.

The Royal Australian Navy says it has 230 personnel in various stage of the US nuclear-powered submarine training pipeline.

“Of these, approximately 145 have completed US Naval nuclear power training and are now building experience training on US Navy SSNs [a hull classification for nuclear-powered submarines],” a navy spokesperson said.

“By 2030, we expect to have 400 Royal Australian Navy officers and sailors trained and ready to serve.”

But Briggs urged a more intensive recruitment plan to crew the bigger boats.

“We have got to triple the size of the submarine arm and we’ve got to train them in nuclear skills,” he said.

“You are heading toward needing a submarine arm of 3,000, that’s the hill you have to climb.”

Approximately 850 submariners are qualified to operate Collins-class vessels.

The Virginia-class boats are intended to bridge the transition from the Collins-class fleet to the future SSN-AUKUS submarine, an even bigger design being developed by Australia and the UK.

“The personnel side is a huge issue, but it’s not the only one,” Briggs said.

The former submariner argued that maintaining two different submarine types would add complexity to training, logistics, maintenance and spare-parts arrangements.

The Australian government did not respond to questions about recruitment targets and whether a workforce development program was on track.

Recruitment is further complicated by the need for more than a dozen different trades, from radio and sonar operators to cooks and electricians.

After spending the next month is Perth, the USS Colorado will return to the city’s waters again in late 2027 as part of the Submarine Rotational Force-West program which is designed to help Australia build the skills and infrastructure to operate its own nuclear fleet.

From 2027, the program will see up to four US and one UK nuclear-powered submarine rotate through HMAS Stirling.

Paul Johnson, HMAS Stirling fleet base west commodore, said the USS Colorado maintenance period would be used to “practise and test our procedures across a range of nuclear-related operational scenarios”.

Officials stressed that no radiological material would be transferred during the maintenance period and that nuclear-related exercises would be simulated.

Late last year, Senate estimates heard that US submarines carrying nuclear weapons could rotate through Australian ports despite a non-proliferation commitment.

USS Colorado captain, Justin Reeves, said the US government would not “confirm or deny the presence of nuclear weapons on specific platforms”.

Colorado was built in 2018 and arrived this week carrying conventional weapons, including four torpedoes and four “payload tubes” that can be used to house and launch weapons.

It took two weeks to travel to Perth from Pearl Harbor in Hawaii with 160 men and no women aboard. A sign labelled “Berth Rules”, taped to the wall near the submarine’s entryway, listed “Don’t be stinky” as the crew’s top priority once they reach port.

The demands of living and working in confined spaces for extended periods presents another recruitment challenge for officials.

Sleeping arrangements can involve bunks stacked three high, while “hot racking” allows three sailors to share two beds by rotating their sleeping schedules around watch duties.

In some circumstances, and when accommodation is limited, sailors may sleep in torpedo rooms.

Reeves said the vessel is “built for combat, not for comfort”.

Nuclear submarines don’t need to refuel, meaning their range is effectively infinite. “The limits of its endurance are really food and toilet paper, and that’s several months’ worth,” Reeves said.

“Being nuclear powered is a massive advantage.”