Norwich ― U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, issued a statement Thursday in response to the Navy’s announcement that U.S. and Australian personnel will work together for the first time to perform maintenance on a U.S. submarine in Australia.

The Navy said the crew of the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) will join in maintaining the attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) over the coming weeks.

“After months of joint training, and several port calls in Australia from the USS Emory S. Land, today marks the first time that a crew of U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy sailors will work together to conduct maintenance on a U.S. nuclear powered submarine and the first-ever U.S. attack submarine to receive maintenance in Australia,” Courtney said.

A staunch advocate of the 2021 AUKUS security agreement among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, Courtney said the collaboration “marks a key milestone in the AUKUS mission as the United States prepares the Royal Australian Navy to independently steward nuclear powered attack submarines from cradle to grave.”

The upcoming maintenance work, known as a Submarine Tendered Maintenance Period, will take place at HMAS Stirling, a Royal Australian Navy base in Western Australia. More than 30 Australian personnel who participated in a “knowledge exchange period” that began in January aboard the Emory S. Land will perform most of the planned maintenance work with U.S. support and oversight.

AUKUS’ first phase, Pillar I, aims to assist Australia in acquiring sovereign, conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines. The current port visit is part of a years-long effort to grow the Royal Australian Navy’s ability to maintain attack submarines before establishing a rotational submarine force in Western Australia as early as 2027. The force will comprise up to four U.S. attack submarines and one U.K. submarine and will grow Australia’s ability to sustain, operate and maintain a sovereign fleet of submarines.

The second phase of AUKUS is to begin in the early 2030s, with the United States selling Australia three Virginia-class submarines, with the potential to sell up to two more. Phase Three envisions the combination of next-generation UK submarine design and advanced U.S. and Australian technology to deliver SSN-AUKUS, the future attack submarine for both Australia and the United Kingdom.

Australia plans to deliver the first Australian-built SSN-AUKUS in the early 2040s.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com