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In short:
Australia's Submarine Agency boss told an international defence conference the path to AUKUS will be drawn-out and challenging.
Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead called for patience in seeing the deal through despite all its forthcoming setbacks.
What's next?
Discussions are ongoing about how payment contributions will work between the three players, especially if commitments fall flat.
The admiral in charge of running Australia's massive nuclear-powered submarine project has warned the AUKUS endeavour will suffer setbacks and he appealed for "strategic patience", as the expensive, decades-long project gets underway.
Addressing the Indian Ocean Defence and Security conference in Perth, Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) boss Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead claimed AUKUS was already "shifting the military balance of power" in the region but said much more work needed to be done.
"We have a long road ahead, we do need strategic patience; developing these high-end apex capabilities necessary for effective deterrence is not easy, is not quick, nor is it cheap," he told the conference on Thursday.
"There will be setbacks, but we need to have the confidence to see this through a generational commitment.
"The progress made already and the commitment of all involved demonstrate that we as a nation have what it takes to deliver on this ambitious program."
Earlier, the United Kingdom's visiting naval chief said it was "not unreasonable" that Australian taxpayers were already giving the British government almost $5 billion to improve his country's submarine industrial base.
In March, the Albanese government confirmed it would contribute $4.6 billion to UK industry for design work on the new SSN-AUKUS fleet and to expand a Rolls-Royce plant that builds the nuclear reactors that will eventually be installed into the submarines.
Under the tri-nation agreement, the federal government is providing a similar contribution to the United States to help improve the US's submarine industrial base before it begins to deliver second-hand Virginia-class boats to Australia.
"The reactor itself is not going to be built here in Australia, so it's not unreasonable to expect and ask Australia to make some of the up-front investment that allows the United Kingdom to then build the reactor house," British Admiral Ben Key said.
"But this returns back and then think of the opportunity the other way, that for us in the United Kingdom, you've then got a nuclear submarine operating capability here in Australia that is of benefit to us in the long run as well.
"I know Australians are warm, welcoming, decent but not always entirely generous people – I'm sure that there will be a point in the future when we will be asked to put our hand into our pocket but that will be for our benefit as well."
The British Sea Lord said he was comfortable at the level of funding being provided because "a lot of work was going on" across the three AUKUS capitals to look at the balance of the AUKUS payments.