Australia is working through the details of the Pentagon’s review of AUKUS which has given the nuclear submarine pact the green light.

The highly anticipated review took six months to complete and has been handed to the Australian government, with details not expected to be made public by the US.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said US President Donald Trump’s remark that AUKUS is “full steam ahead” was positive, adding that milestones of the deal are being met.

“I have copies of it and we’re working through it now in a steady, methodical fashion,” he told ABC RN on Friday.

“We’re hitting all the major milestones (of the deal), including the docking of the USS Vermont submarine in WA only last month.”

Mr Conroy said the government briefed the Trump administration on Australia’s biggest overhaul of Defence departments in 50 years that was announced earlier this week.

The shake-up will establish an independent Defence delivery agency to ensure billions of dollars are spent well and major projects delivered on time.

This agency is separate to the Australian Submarine Agency that is responsible for delivering vessels under AUKUS.

Mr Conroy also announced Australia will begin manufacturing missiles this month after the opening of a factory at Port Wakefield in South Australia. 

“This is the first time a factory outside the United States and only the second factory in the world that will be producing these really important missiles,” he said. 

The factory will be capable of producing 300 guided multiple launch rocket system missiles per year.

“That’s not just to satisfy our needs, but also to potentially export to places like the United States and other allies,” Mr Conroy said.

The completion of the Pentagon’s review comes just days before Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong head to Washington for annual talks with their US counterparts.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Thursday the review identified opportunities to put the pact on the “strongest possible footing”.

Concerns about whether AUKUS was still going ahead were eased when Mr Trump signalled his support for the program in a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House in October. 

Canberra has committed to spend $368 billion over three decades to the program.

This post was originally published on Michael West.