<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Defence Minister Richard Marles has met his US counterparts in Washington DC overnight for crucial talks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His talks with US Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio comes amid a vital period in the Canberra-Washington relationship.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Trump administration is completing a review of the AUKUS pact, under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered, but not armed, submarines from the US and Britain.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/porepunkah-victoria-police-shooting-live-updates-latest-news-headlines-august-27/5ee3d7e6-9199-4943-b773-97824e918a23" rel="" target="_blank" title="Police search rural Victoria for alleged cop killer"><strong><span>Police search rural Victoria for alleged cop killer</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It would deliver Australia at least eight submarines including three to five second-hand US Virginia-class submarines. Britain and Australia would co-operate to build their own SSN-AUKUS submarines.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But in June, Hegseth announced the Pentagon was launching a review into the AUKUS agreement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There are concerns that the US won't provide Australia with its first Virginia-class submarine by the early 2030s as planned because American submarine building was behind schedule.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/defence-minister-richard-marles-meets-us-counterparts/debe3438-a8f6-4be9-b114-a809fd4b4e45" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The AUKUS review is expected to be completed within the next weeks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Australian government confirmed in late July it had paid the Trump administration a second $800 million instalment on the AUKUS deal. The first $800 million was paid in February.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/aukus-agreement-tops-agenda-for-defence-minister-richard-marles-in-us-visit/a9a97916-1ee6-4314-8184-fb98c7dd0dae" rel="" target="_blank" title="Australia should give US 'commitments' about nuclear submarines if war breaks out, says think tank"><strong><span>Australia should give US 'commitments' about nuclear submarines if war breaks out, says think tank</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The submarines are expected cost Australia up to $380 billion.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Trump administration is also pushing Australia to raise its defence spending as the US seeks to meet China's military might in the Indo-Pacific.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hegseth and other US officials have urged Australia to lift its defence budget from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the federal government has pushed back, insisting Australia will stick with its own budget process for the armed forces.</span></div></div>