But Denmark argued that if AUKUS failed or was scrapped, the "United States would become less capable in the Indo-Pacific" and its "international credibility would be dramatically undercut".
The paper said "deterrence would be undermined, and propaganda from Beijing and Moscow declaring the unreliability of American commitments would gain significant credibility".
The paper, written for Washington's Centre for the Strategic and International Studies think tank, listed well-known problems that need to be addressed.
These include lagging US submarine production rates and the question of whether Australia would use submarines supplied by the US in an Indo-Pacific conflict while depleting US resources in acquiring them.
The report also highlighted the high costs of AUKUS - it is estimated that it will cost Australia $240 billion (A$368 billion) over more than 30 years.
There is also a shortage of skilled labour for submarine production in the US, Australia and Britain and other practical issues, such as a lack of progress in setting up "AUKUS visas" to facilitate the movement of people involved in the project.
It also pointed to a vague focus of the so-called pillar two of AUKUS, aimed at collaboration in high-tech weaponry and said this needs to be narrowed.
The report, which Denmark co-authored with Charles Edel, a former State Department official now also at CSIS, said despite the issues, "shoring up AUKUS" was a "strategic imperative".
It said AUKUS would "boost the United States' defence industrial base, strengthen its closest allies, send a powerful deterrent message to Beijing, and help stabilise the (Indo-Pacific) region".
Details of the AUKUS plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the early 2030s were unveiled in 2021 under former President Joe Biden, part of efforts to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
The Pentagon has said a review it announced in June of the three-way collaboration between Australia, Britain and the United States to ensure it aligns with President Donald Trump's "America First agenda" will be completed in the coming months.
The review has been led by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's under secretary of defence for policy, who has previously expressed concern that the US would lose submarines to Australia at a critical time for deterrence against China.
Last month, the Republican and Democratic heads of a US congressional committee for strategic competition with China stressed their strong support for AUKUS.
