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...Although the review seemingly put Australia's $368 billion pathway to building and owning nuclear-powered submarines in to question, supporters of AUKUS took some comfort from the fact it was not an edict from US President Donald Trump himself.

Instead, it bubbled up from within the Pentagon, pushed by defence policy architect Elbridge Colby.
AUKUS sceptic: Elbridge Colby, US defence undersecretary.

AUKUS sceptic and defence policy architect Elbridge Colby blindsided the White House last week with a decision to halt shipments of air defence missiles to Ukraine. Bloomberg

Colby, the under-secretary of defence for policy, is a strident China hawk who believes the United States should invest in protecting itself against Beijing's advances in Asia above all other military forays.

Although AUKUS is strategically aligned with this goal, Colby's beef is that a key stepping stone in the deal " the sale of secondhand US submarines to Australia from 2032 " would diminish the nation's naval fleet. ...