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The Australian Government has confirmed that three Australian personnel were embedded on a US submarine which torpedoed an Iranian military frigate in the Indian Ocean.
The clarification was requested from several media outlets and the Australian Greens after the US submarine torpedoed the Iranian frigate Islamic Republic of Iran Ship Dena off the southern coast of Sri Lanka earlier this month.
The frigate was reportedly heading back to Iran from an eastern Indian port after attending an Indian-organised naval exercise, Milan, in the Bay of Bengal from 18 to 25 February. Search-and-rescue operations were later launched by Sri Lankan authorities.
“We wouldn’t normally confirm such an issue, but given our NSC meetings and the public interest, I can confirm that there were three Australian personnel on board that vessel. I can confirm also, though, that no Australian personnel have participated in any offensive action against Iran,” according to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking during a televised interview on March 6.
“These are long-standing third country arrangements that have been in place for a long period of time, and what they do is ensure that Australian Defence Force personnel, where they're embedded in third countries' defence assets, they act in accordance with Australian law, with Australian policy, and that, of course, is taking place across the board.”
Australia is deeply embedded into the US Navy submarine industrial and training pipeline via the AUKUS trilateral security pact with the US and UK. Australian sailors and officers are sent to the same training schools used by the United States Navy nuclear submarine crews; including Nuclear Power School in South Carolina.
Australian personnel also attend US Naval Submarine School and are embedded in active US Virginia-class submarines for real operational experience. Other personnel are embedded as engineers, shipyard workers and radiological safety technicians on US naval shipyards and nuclear programs.
In addition, US and UK submarines are scheduled to rotate through HMAS Stirling as part of Submarine Rotational Force-West.
Those programs are in preparation for Australia to buy and operate US-built nuclear-propelled submarines and later AUKUS-class submarines.
“One of the big pluses behind the AUKUS arrangements are Australian personnel getting experience across a range of assets, including being on board nuclear powered submarines, but also the exchange occurring across the board,” according to Albanese.
“So it's not just personnel, it's engineers, it's technicians, it's people learning those skills, whether they be in the United States or the United Kingdom.”
