https://www.defensenews.com/congress...sts-for-aukus/
Senators push Biden to release submarine costs for AUKUS
WASHINGTON ― A bipartisan group of senators is appealing to the White House to release Pentagon cost estimates related to the submarine-industrial base as the Biden administration and Congress move to implement AUKUS, the trilateral submarine-sharing pact with Britain and Australia.
The cost estimates are critical to a debate that has delayed key congressional authorizations needed to advance AUKUS. The study is expected to detail the level of investments needed for the industrial base to sustain submarine production requirements for both the U.S. and Australia.
A Senate letter obtained by Defense News asks Biden to release the cost estimates by the end of the month to inform AUKUS legislation. The Defense Department completed the study months ago, but the letter says the Pentagon does not intend to release its findings and cost estimates until it unveils the fiscal 2025 budget request early next year.
Sen.
Roger Wicker of Mississippi — the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee — spearheaded the bipartisan letter. Wicker has
held up Senate passage of two AUKUS authorizations, making them contingent on the Biden administration and Congress allocating additional funding for the submarine-industrial base as part of
a defense supplemental request to bypass
the $886 billion military spending cap in the debt ceiling agreement.
“The volume of submarine tonnage the industrial base must produce to meet the Navy’s own requirements and fully implement the AUKUS agreement will require historic and sustained investments in the submarine workforce and supplier network,” the senators wrote. “To achieve such capacity, Congress must have a comprehensive understanding of the current status of the submarine-industrial base as well as the future resource investments necessary to meet our nation’s requirements.”
Three Democrats — Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Tim Kaine of Virginia — signed onto the letter alongside Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. The White House and Defense Department did not respond to requests for comment by publication.….