Defence Minister Richard Marles is preparing to make a decision on which nuclear-powered submarine Australia will run, saying they could be in the water sooner than expected.

Canberra will decide between an American or British design as part of the new trilateral AUKUS agreement between the three nations.

A pathway to receiving the submarines and how interim capability gaps will be plugged ahead of their arrival late next decade will be made public in March.

Mr Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are in London and will meet with their counterparts, where the future of AUKUS will be on the agenda.

The pair will also meet with new prime minister Rishi Sunak.

“We very much welcome, a greater presence of Great Britain in the Indo-Pacific and that’s going to be really important in terms of the stability of our region in the future,” Mr Marles told ABC TV.

He also reaffirmed the AUKUS timeline after the United States suddenly shut down four submarine repair docks for maintenance.

“I wouldn’t read much into those forecasts,” he told Nine’s Today Show when a 2040 to 2050 timeline was put before him.

“We certainly understand the size of the challenge for all three countries and there is an ambitious timeline that will be articulated when this announcement is made.”

Mr Marles is also set to meet with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin later this week.

– AAP

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