Rear Adm. Richard Seif has assumed command of the U.S. Navy’s AUKUS Integration and Acquisition Direct Reporting Program Management Office as of April 21, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.
Seif most recently led the Submarine Force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Task Force-34 in Pearl Harbor. A 1992 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Seif has served on five nuclear-powered submarines, including leading the USS Buffalo and USS Jacksonville. His prior commands include Submarine Group Seven, Task Force-54, Task Force-74, the Undersea Warfighting Development Center and Submarine Squadron One.
“I am honored and excited to join the AUKUS team,” said the admiral, who will oversee U.S. efforts in the program. “Our allies and partners are an important part of our integrated combat readiness and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. AUKUS expands the work that we do with them to uplift our warfighting capabilities.”
The AUKUS program, a strategic defense partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, aims to equip Australia with conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines while maintaining rigorous nonproliferation and nuclear stewardship standards.
Seif’s appointment comes amid other recent AUKUS developments, including the appointment of former national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s special representative to AUKUS last April. Earlier, U.S. defense contractor HII was selected to lead the Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification program. The initiative will fast-track the qualification of Australian suppliers and technologies to meet the needs of the AUKUS Submarine Industry Strategy.