British nuclear submarine HMS Anson has arrived at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, with Australian personnel to help carry out work on the vessel alongside UK and US crews.
The work is part of preparation for the setup of nuclear submarine rotations out of the West Australian site from 2027 as part of AUKUS, a deal with the US and UK that will give Australia access to nuclear vessels.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the work would bolster the local industry and allow for much-needed preparation for when Australian-made nuclear submarines join the fleet.
"This submarine maintenance period is the latest demonstration of the continued momentum across all three partners to deliver AUKUS," he said.
"Australia, the UK and the US will work together over coming weeks on the maintenance of HMS Anson, developing our skills, systems and infrastructure as we prepare for Submarine Rotational Force - West to begin next year."
As part of the $368 billion AUKUS deal, Australia will purchase at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US in the early 2030s before a new fleet of vessels is built in Australia for delivery from the 2040s.
It comes as Australia's defence industry minister will travel to the United Kingdom to meet his counterpart, following an agreement to boost dialogue.
Pat Conroy will attend the Australia-UK defence industry dialogue alongside the British Defence Readiness and Industry Minister Luke Pollard.
It's the first iteration of the ongoing exchange since 2018, with the two nations deciding to restart talks at the industry ministers' level in 2025.
Mr Conroy will tour sites where the SSN-AUKUS class submarines are being built to observe progress, as well as meet with local defence industry partners.
This includes those critical to building Australia's nuclear-skilled workforce as it prepares to acquire and man nuclear submarines for the first time.
"The Australia-UK defence industry dialogue is an opportunity to discuss deeper defence industry collaboration and ways we can collectively strengthen our defence capability," Mr Conroy said.
Labor is facing calls from the opposition to boost defence spending to ensure the costly AUKUS doesn't cannibalise the rest of the defence force.
The federal government has defended its defence spending, saying it has pumped more money into national security than the coalition.
Mr Marles and Mr Conroy announced the signing of two contracts for heavy and medium landing craft on Friday.
Some $4 billion is being pumped into the army's heavy landing craft fleet, under which eight will be built in Western Australia.
They will be capable of transporting more than 500 tonnes of long-range weapons and other units by sea.
A $1 billion contract with ship builder Austal will result in 18 medium landing craft being handed over to the military.
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