The strategic partnership that will give Australia nuclear submarines will be firmly in the spotlight when navy chiefs from AUKUS countries converge for a major defence summit.
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The heads of navies from Australia, the US and UK will be front and centre as part of the Indian Ocean Defence and Security Conference, which starts in Perth on Wednesday.
More than 400 delegates from across the region will come together at the two-day summit, with the AUKUS partnership firmly on the agenda.
Australia's Navy chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, US counterpart Admiral Lisa Marie Franchetti and Admiral Ben Key from the UK will be among headliners addressing the summit.
The trio met in Perth on Tuesday, where Admiral Franchetti affirmed the US would stick to the AUKUS agreement, regardless of who wins the American presidential election in November.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said progress on the nuclear submarines would be a key focus of the summit.
"This will be all about momentum towards our own Virginia class submarines and then building our own submarines for Australia, which is a massive uplift in our capability," he said.
"There's strong bipartisan support for AUKUS and that will continue through administrations, I'm confident, as it will continue in Australia and the United Kingdom through change of government.
As part of AUKUS, Australia will acquire three Virginia class vessels from the US before nuclear vessels are built domestically.
It's expected eight nuclear submarines will be in Australian service by the 2050s, with the plan expected to cost up to $3668 billion.
Defence Minister Richard Marles will address the summit on Wednesday, along with Mr Conroy and West Australian Premier Roger Cook.
Australian Associated Press
