After the long-awaited AUKUS submarine announcement, ASPI director Bec Shrimpton and senior analyst Malcolm Davis give their views on the decisions unveiled in San Diego this week. In conversation with ASPI’s David Wroe, Bec and Malcolm talk about the role nuclear submarines can play in deterrence, the cost of the program weighed against the potential costs of underinvesting in defence, the need to build a skilled workforce, the risks to AUKUS of information-sharing paralysis and possible political headwinds, and the merits of the phased approach to the introduction of AUKUS submarines.