Senator Jacqui Lambie

Senator LAMBIE: Thank you, Chair. I've got some questions on submarines for Vice Admiral Mead and for Vice Admiral Hammond, if I may. I just want to go into the first Virginia class submarine that went into service almost 20 years ago in 2004. I understand there have been a number of different variants with different capabilities. I think they are referred to as blocks: block 1 to block 5. Can you tell us which submarine block we are seeking as part of the US AUKUS procurement? Vice Adm. Mead : The exact allocation of submarines that will be transferred over to Australia is still to be determined by Australia and the US, but we are looking at those submarines having over 20 years of service life remaining.