Concerns about the US Navy’s budget cut came as army chiefs for Australia, the UK and the US gathered in Washington to talk up the importance of AUKUS and of shared co-operation, particularly at a time of growing instability in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe.

“In an era of great power competition, defence and security is once again a whole of nation endeavour, but even more so, it requires us to work even more closely and in a more integrated fashion with allies and with partners,” said Australian Lieutenant General Simon Stuart.

In Congress, however, billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan have been in limbo for months due to partisan divisions between Republicans and Democrats as they head towards a presidential election in November.

Ukraine, for instance, desperately needs more military funding to fight Russia, but after two years of warfare, many Republicans now oppose continuing to spend billions of dollars to help the sovereign nation.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, the British Army’s chief of general staff, described the war in Ukraine as “the principal pressure point on a really fragile world order”.

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Sanders also warned that failing to counter Russia’s aggression would consign future generations to a world that was infinitely more unstable and perilous.

“So for now, Ukrainian blood … and bravery is buying time, but they need our support,” he said. “It is not just morally right to do that, it is in our own self-interest because preserving our future security by supporting Ukraine is much better value than fighting a war.”

Sanders, Stuart and General Randy A. George, the chief of staff of the US Army, were speaking at a forum at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, soon after news of the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2025 priorities emerged.

However, the idea of a submarine cut had been touted earlier, prompting members of the House Armed Services Committee to write to Biden in January, warning him that “any deviation from the planned cadence of the construction and procurement of two submarines per year will reverberate both at home and abroad, with allies and competitors alike”.

Courtney said the addressing the issue would be “a high priority” for committee members in coming months.

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The US Defence Department’s 2025 funding request lays out about $US849.8 billion of investments for the next financial year. Deputy Secretary of Defence Kathleen Hicks told reporters on Monday that the budget request had to be capped due to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which seeks to limit government spending in the US.

“Because of these statutory caps, and as good stewards of taxpayer dollars, we made smart, responsible choices to work within those limits,” she said.