Former top defence officials from Australia, the US, and the UK have assessed the state of the AUKUS pact five years after it was announced.
The pact aims to arm Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, but the slow pace of submarine construction in the US has long been a concern.
AUKUS has forced the United States to confront its "profoundly lacking" capacity to build and maintain naval submarines, but recent progress should inspire confidence in the defence deal, a former top White House official says.
Five years after the pact between Australia, the US and the UK was announced, three of its architects have assessed its progress towards its goals, which include arming Australia with nuclear-powered submarines to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
Former US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell, Australia's former defence secretary Greg Moriarty and former UK national security adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove all said they were content with what had been achieved so far.
One question that has persistently dogged AUKUS is whether the US can deliver on its plan to transfer several Virginia-class submarines to Australia by the 2030s.
For years, US shipyards have been building the boats far too slowly to maintain the American fleet at target levels.
"In many respects, it was lacking in the ability to get subs under repair, back out at sea, to be able to turn out new submarines."
The US is investing heavily to improve the rate of construction, and Australia is contributing more than $4 billion to the effort.
In Australia, Mr Moriarty said, skills shortages remained an obstacle.