The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Minnesota prepares to moor at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, Feb. 25, 2025. (James Caliva/U.S. Navy)
The Virginia-class USS Minnesota has arrived in Western Australia, marking the first of several planned visits by U.S. submarines this year, Australia’s Defence Department said Wednesday.
The nuclear-powered fast-attack vessel began its routine port call Tuesday at HMAS Stirling, near Perth, as regional maritime activity draws increased scrutiny.
The visit coincides with the movement of a Chinese naval flotilla in waters off Southern Australia. The task force — comprising the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu — was reportedly moving west, south of Tasmania, within Australia’s exclusive economic zone, New Zealand public radio station RNZ reported Wednesday.
The flotilla, which conducted live-fire drills last week in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, appears “designed to be provocative,” Andrew Shearer, director-general of Australia’s Office of National Intelligence, told a parliamentary committee Monday.
“China’s growing capability to project military power into our immediate region” is “now matched by an increasing intent to do so,” Shearer said, according to a Wednesday report by Australian broadcaster ABC.
An anonymous military official cited in the report said Australian officials assume the Chinese task force has submarine support for at least part of its deployment.
The Minnesota, commissioned in 2013, arrived in November at Naval Base Guam, its new homeport, becoming the first Virginia-class submarine stationed on the U.S. island territory.
During its stay at HMAS Stirling, members of the Minnesota’s crew will participate in training for Australian naval officers preparing for submarine command, according to the Defence Department statement.
“The Australian and U.S. Navies operate on shared behaviors, shared values, and a shared commitment to assuring the prosperity and security of the Indo-Pacific region,” Australian navy chief Vice Adm. Mark Hammond said in the statement.
A second U.S. submarine visit to Stirling later this year will include a three-week maintenance period, the statement said.
Last August, the fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii and submarine tender USS Emory S. Land spent several weeks at Stirling, where U.S. and Australian crew members aboard the tender performed maintenance on the submarine.
Australia is developing the capability to service U.S. and British nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines under the AUKUS defense pact, an agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The 2021 pact aims to establish Submarine Rotational Force-West at Stirling, with one British and four U.S. submarines stationed there on a temporary basis as early as 2027.
