What happened the last time AUKUS was reviewed

But it's not the first time the agreement has been reviewed, and nor will it be the last.

In April, the United Kingdom announced it would double-down on the AUKUS agreement, after a rapid review conducted by former National Security Adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed his government would retain Sir Lovegrove as a special representative, to shepherd the program through to the next generation of submarines, which will be designed and initially built in the UK.

While not uncontroversial in the UK, particularly given the challenges the country faces with building its industrial base, the program has bipartisan support, both from the Conservative party that signed the agreement under former PM Boris Johnson and now Sir Keir.

The Lovegrove review is yet to be published publicly, but Sir Stephen has briefed US and Australian officials on its findings and is expected to travel to Canberra to further share his findings with Defence officials here.

"[AUKUS] is a uniquely powerful partnership which will develop and deliver cutting-edge capabilities, help to revitalise Britain's defence industrial base and provide sustained employment for thousands of people across the UK, US and Australia," Sir Stephen said when he was appointed to the special representative role.

Senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Dr Euan Graham said the outcome of the Lovegrove reviews so far indicated the parties all needed to adopt a "whole of government" approach to AUKUS.

"One of the things that Lovegrove has recommended is the need to bring AUKUS out of the Defence silo and approach it across the three partners with the whole of government, whole of nation ethos, front and centre."

A separate parliamentary committee review is under way in the UK as well, with submissions closed on May 30. Labour MP and committee chair Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi said the agreement was vital, and the inquiry would examine progress against pillar one and the technology sharing agreement, known as pillar two.

"AUKUS has been under way for over three years now. Our inquiry, launching today, will examine whether the partnership is on track, and will consider the impact of geopolitical shifts since the initial agreement in 2021," Mr Dhesi said.

Following the announcement of the Pentagon review of AUKUS, Defence Minister Richard Marles acknowledged the recently completed UK review.

"All three countries are committed to ensuring AUKUS meets national and trilateral objectives."

Dr Graham said while the focus was on US and Australian relations, this overlooked the role of the UK in the trilateral partnership.

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"The UK role in this is very important, the UK is also actively supporting Australia in Washington, by lobbying for the Virginia [submarine] transfer."

Dr Graham said that given the support of the UK and the critical role that Congress plays in the US, which passed enabling legislation, it was premature to speculate about the end of the agreement.

"I wouldn't overreact to this announcement at the moment, I think the review is not dissimilar to the review in the UK and the review of the [Australian Submarine Agency]," he said.

"All three partners have to maintain tight scrutiny of this given the ambition level."