AUKUS nod for modernisation of Australia’s submarine fleet
TCN Service/Washington DC
AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, and United States partnership) has announced modernisation of Australia’s submarine fleet including armed nuclear powered submarines to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
US Secretary of State Anthony J Blinken said US President #Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Sunak and Australian PM #Anthony Albanese announced the optimal pathway for Australia to acquire conventionally armed, #nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs).
“Australia’s modernization of its submarine fleet will be a multi-decade undertaking binding our countries closer together as we actualize this opportunity side-by-side.
Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines will be done in a manner that sets the highest nonproliferation standard and strengthens the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
This partnership is possible because of Australia’s longstanding and demonstrated commitment to nuclear nonproliferation,” Blinken said.
The US State secretary said, ‘AUKUS partnership represents a modernization of the longstanding alliances and partnerships between our countries, guided by a shared commitment to global prosperity, security, and stability.
It deepens our longstanding diplomatic, security, and defense cooperation to meet the complex challenges of the future’.
“The benefits of the AUKUS partnership will also extend across the Indo-Pacific region, which is home to more than half of the world’s people and nearly two-thirds of the world’s economy.
It reinforces our collective strength by weaving our transatlantic and Indo-Pacific allies and partners closer together in support of the international system that underpins these objectives,” he added.
Commenting on the deal, UK PM #Rishi Sunak said, “I’m proud that the first generation of #AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines will be built in the UK, based on the UK’s world-leading submarine design.
This massive multilateral undertaking will create thousands of jobs in the UK in the decades ahead, building on more than 60 years of British expertise designing, building and operating nuclear-powered submarines.”
“As the home of British submarine building, most of these jobs will be concentrated in Barrow-in-Furness with further roles created elsewhere along the supply chain, including in Derby.
The first UK submarines built to this design will be delivered in the late 2030s to replace the current Astute-Class vessels, and the first Australian submarines will follow in the early 2040s,” Sunak added.
