Overnight American legislators approved legislation allowing the country to sell Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under the AUKUS defence treaty.
"It is a historic moment. It's the first time America has ever authorised the sale of a nuclear-powered submarine to any other country," Marles told Today this morning.
Ausralia, the US and Britain agreed the AUKUS deal in March to help equip the Royal Australian Navy with nuclear-powered submarines.
They will not be armed with nuclear weapons.
Under the pact, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US and then build a fleet of new AUKUS-class submarine in Adelaide at a cost of $368 billion.
Marles said Australia will take delivery of the vessels by the early 2030s and they would help plug a capability gap when the navy's current conventional-powered Collins class submarines end their service.
"And without it, we would struggle to transition from what is the Collins class submarines that we have today through to when we're making our own nuclear-powered submarines, which won't come off the production line until the early 2040s.
"So, this is a really big moment. It's a historic step."
Countries with the highest military expenditure in the world
Marles said the passing of the law by US politicians from both the Republican and Democratic sides would help transform Australia's defence capabilities.
"The strategic significance of Australia being able to operate nuclear-powered submarines is profound ... it really represents the biggest leap in our own military capability in more than a century to be able to operate submarines of this kind."
Since the announcement of AUKUS, China has criticised the deal, portraying it as a US-led bid to constrain the rising Asian superpower.
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2023-12-14 23:54:03Z
CBMilAFodHRwczovL3d3dy45bmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdXMtY29uZ3Jlc3MtcGFzc2VzLWxhdy1lbmFibGluZy1zYWxlLW9mLW51Y2xlYXItc3VibWFyaW5lcy10by1hdXN0cmFsaWFuLW5hdnkvY2ZkNmM0ZmMtNmVmYi00ZGRhLThkMmQtNTAyMTc0OTAzMDY10gEA
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