Australia Confident Aukus Defense Pact to Survive US Review (1)

Australia is confident its wide-ranging security agreement with the US and UK will push ahead despite a Pentagon review, people familiar with the matter said, with Canberra recently announcing at least $9 billion in related defense investments.

The Trump administration’s review of the so-called Aukus agreement, which was revealed in June, is focused mainly on reinforcing the pact rather than unraveling it, according to the people familiar, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.

Australia’s announcement over the weekend — that it will spend $8 billion on a related defense hub to build naval ships and service ...