Washington The USA, Great Britain and Australia want to equip the continent with nuclear-powered submarines. After a meeting with the heads of government of the other two countries involved in San Diego on Monday, US President Joe Biden emphasized that the submarines would be nuclear-powered, but not nuclear-armed.
The partnership, announced 18 months ago, gives Australia access to the submarines, which are more powerful and stealthy than conventionally powered models. They are intended to counterbalance the Chinese buildup in the region.
“These boats will not have nuclear weapons of any kind,” Biden said at an open-air ceremony at the Point Loma Naval Base in San Diego, flanked by his UK and Australian counterparts Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese. At least two submarines could be seen in the background. Albanese said the deal represents the largest single investment in Australia’s defense capability in the country’s history.
In a joint statement ahead of the official announcement, the three leaders said their countries have worked for decades to maintain peace, stability and prosperity around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific region. “We believe in a world that protects liberty and respects human rights, the rule of law, the independence of sovereign states and the rules-based international order,” it said. The next steps should help advance these goals in the coming decades.
Australia is buying up to five Virginia-class submarines as part of the partnership, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who accompanied Biden to California, said. A future generation of submarines is to be built in Britain and Australia with American technology and support.
First insights into further steps
The plan for the alliance, known by its acronym Aukus, was announced in September 2021. At that time, Australia joined the USA and Great Britain with the aim of equipping the Australian military with nuclear submarines.
At the time, the announcement of an Indo-Pacific security pact caused serious irritation between the United States and France, as it broke a French submarine deal with Australia worth $40 billion.
Now, almost 18 months later, the countries involved are giving an insight into the next steps for the first time. According to the White House, Aukus will develop in three phases:
- stage 1: The agreement between the US, Australia and Great Britain also stipulates that American and British submarines will be stationed in Western Australia to train the Australian crews. The USA wants to start operations with one submarine from 2027 and increase to four US submarines and one British submarine within a few years. With the Aukus agreement, the USA will leave nuclear propulsion technology to another country for the second time. By the 1950s, Britain had benefited from US technology.
- Stage 2: Under the deal, Australia is to purchase three US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines in the early 2030s. There is a purchase option for two more submarines of this type. The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, said before the Biden, Sunak and Albanese meeting that the purchase of the US boats had been decided.
- stage 3: All three countries want to work together to develop a new type of submarine in the “SSN-Aukus” class. A British design with “high-tech” from the USA is planned. The boats are to be built in Great Britain and Australia. An Australian government official said the project will cost hundreds of billions of dollars by 2055. Britain is due to receive the first submarines in the late 2030s, with Australia to follow in the early 2040s.
According to experts, one hurdle lies in the exchange of information. Both the US Congress and the UK Parliament must allow countries to share their secret nuclear propulsion systems with Australia, writes Foreign Policy magazine. Technology transfers are strictly regulated by the so-called International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
Another problem is the state of the American shipbuilding industry, which is already stretched. The two US submarine yards are suffering from capacity and staffing problems. Currently, they can’t even keep up with the US Navy’s target of producing three submarines a year, writes The Washington Post.
The British head of government wants to meet US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Albanese at the naval base.
(Photo: AP)
Biden presented his draft US budget last week. It envisages $2.4 billion over the next four years to increase submarine production and $2.2 billion by 2028 to increase maintenance capacity.
Australia has also committed to investing “proportionately” in the US and UK defense industries, the US official said.
China has sharply criticized the agreement
The Aukus Pact is considered one of the Biden government’s most important security policy initiatives to counter China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific. The US government sees its intentions to invest in the defense industry strengthened by the Ukraine war and the military exercises in the South China Sea.
“Peace and stability are increasingly being called into question,” the US administration official said. “Not only through developments in China, but also in other countries like North Korea and Russia, which are also militarily active in the Pacific.”
According to experts, China maintains 79 submarines.
(Photo: AP)
In the long term, Australia could become the US’s most important base near China: Aukus is the launch pad for a submarine hub from which the Navy can “monitor the full spectrum of underwater activities in the Asia-Pacific region,” US officials said. Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro to the Defense News portal.
According to Foreign Policy, China has the largest underwater fleet in the world, with 79 submarines. Australia does not yet have its own nuclear-powered submarine fleet, only diesel-powered submarines. That should now change with Aukus. Nuclear-powered submarines can stay underwater indefinitely, only surfacing to replenish food for the crew.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the pact last week. The agreement was driven by a “Cold War mentality” and violated international disarmament efforts, a spokeswoman said.
The relationship between the world powers USA and China had recently deteriorated rapidly. In early February, the launch of a Chinese surveillance balloon over US airspace triggered a diplomatic crisis.
For several weeks, the US government has also been warning of China supplying arms to Russia for the Ukraine war and is trying to win over allies for possible sanctions.
With agency material.
More: Why Xi Jinping’s trade blockade against Australia isn’t working