Australia's future nuclear submarine plans are expected to be unveiled early next year, with the government looking to detail its moves to fix a looming capability gap.
Defence Minister Richard Marles is working to announce which nuclear submarine Australia will acquire by March, in line with the original 18 month time frame set out when the AUKUS partnership was first revealed last year.
Labor hopes that an interim conventionally powered submarine fleet is needed within nine months to bridge the gap between the retirement of the Collins class and the arrival of nuclear-powered boats.
The Morrison government previously suggested that a decision on nuclear-powered submarines could be brought forward by the end of the year.
But Mr Marles said that suggestion was optimistic in the extreme and it is clear that the former government's plan would have delivered submarines by the 2040s.
I think it would be extremely optimistic to bring that time forward to eight years from now. In the past few weeks, numerous retired defence figures have warned that Australia needs a son of the Collins fleet because the country will be left exposed before the AUKUS submarines are due to enter service in the 2040s.
Last week, outgoing Navy Chief Vice Admiral Mike Noonan said that a new class of submarines to be built as an interim capability could not be ruled out.
I think we're going to see a period of study and reflection, and we're going to look at all options, so I don't rule out any decision that our government might make with regard to realising our future navy capabilities, Vice Admiral Noonan said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Marles announced that he would extend the terms of Australia's Defence Chief, Vice Chief of Defence and Chief of Joint Operations by two years, in part to help oversee the massive naval project.
The former government left a lot of major procurements behind time. Australia has a number of capability challenges that are most significant in order to deliver the next generation of submarines, Mr Marles said.
As a country, it is important that we are bedding down the new AUKUS arrangement.
He told reporters that the Albanese government has placed an emphasis on continuity and a premium on continuity despite the fact that the new service chiefs have been considered by the Albanese government.
New service chiefs have been announced for the Navy, Air Force, and Army, despite the fact that the majority of the ADF will remain beyond their initial four-year appointments.
Rear Admiral Mark Hammond will become Chief of Navy, Major General Simon Stuart Chief of Army and Air Vice Marshal Robert Chipman will become Chief of Air Force.
Mr Marles said senior Australian Defence Force leadership appointments came at a time that was as strategically complex as any since the end of World War II in terms of national security and the needs of defence procurement Labor and is expected to complete a Defence Force Posture Review next year.