The leaders of the United States, United Kingdom and Australia have announced more details of how Australia will acquire nuclear submarines under a security pact for the Asia Pacific that was first unveiled 18 months ago. Under the AUKUS agreement, which is aimed at preserving a “free and open” Indo Pacific, Australia will buy three American nuclear submarines. Australia will also have the option to purchase two more of the nuclear submarines after the initial deal, which is slated for the early 2030s, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a joint statement on Monday as they met in San Diego, California. Addressing a ceremony at the US naval base in San Diego, Biden called the agreement under the 2021 AUKUS partnership part of a shared commitment to a free-and-open Indo-Pacific region with two of America’s “most stalwart and capable allies.” Sunak called it “a powerful partnership,” adding: “For the first time ever it will mean three fleets of submarines working together across the Atlantic and Pacific keeping our oceans free … for decades to come.” The multi-stage project would culminate with British and Australian production and operation of a new submarine class – SSN-AUKUS – a “trilaterally developed” vessel based on Britain’s next-generation design that would be built in Britain and Australia and include “cutting edge” US technologies. Britain would take delivery of its first SSN-AUKUS submarine in the late 2030s, and Australia would receive its first in the early 2040s. The vessels will be built by BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. AUKUS will be the first time Washington has shared nuclear-propulsion technology since it did so with Britain in the 1950s. Biden stressed that the submarines would be nuclear-powered, not nuclear armed: “These boats will not have nuclear weapons of any kind on them,” he said. The agreement will see US and British submarines deployed in Western Australia as soon as 2027 to help train Australian crews and bolster deterrence. US officials said this would involve four US submarines and one British in a few years. This first phase of the plan is already underway with the US Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine Asheville visiting Perth in Western Australia, officials said.

Source: Qatar News Agency