AUKUS

William & Mary to be the U.S. Academic Home of the Submarine Industrial Base

Led by the Whole of Government Center of Excellence, William & Mary will be home to the U.S.-based AUKUS Center of Excellence. This transformative idea was launched on 29 October 2025 as part of the Hampton Roads Alliance's (HRA) Playbook, a plan to grow the region’s defense and shipbuilding industry.

Alongside inter regional collaboration centers conceptualized in Sheffield, United Kingdom, and Adelaide, Australia, William & Mary will harness academic expertise to strengthen international efforts to design, build and support the next generation of nuclear-powered submarines.

Driving innovation

Established in 2021, AUKUS is a security alliance uniting Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to create cohesion in nuclear arsenals among the allies. Initially focused on nuclear-powered submarines for Australia, AUKUS also emphasizes the ability to deliver tangible military capabilities and enhance joint innovation across domains.

The center at William & Mary, with anticipated partners in Sheffield and Adelaide, envisions focusing on four collaborative functions. First, the centers will act as a joint research and development hub for emerging technologies and supply chains to accelerate new operational processes. 

Second, the centers will collaborate together and with national partners to attract private investment and support new ventures. Additionally, they will exchange expertise and best practices to advance submarine production, workforce training, supplier growth and innovation. 

Finally, the combined force will focus on process innovation and acceleration to ideate, test and propose reforms with partners.  

Next Steps

In the multi-year building of this center, WGC will be primarily supported by the vice provost for research and the Military & Veteran Affairs team, with whole-of-university expertise coming from the Reves Center for International Studies, the College of Arts & Sciences' Public Policy Program and two schools at the university: William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS and the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics, among others. Over the next year, the three international centers will work together on a shared plan for operations and initial projects, with significant input from respective stakeholders.

For more information on the AUKUS Center of Excellence, please email wgc@wm.edu.