The US, UK, and Australia to Jointly Create Nuclear Submarines

Leaders of the US, UK, and Australia have detailed plans to supply Australia with nuclear submarines to counter China's ambitions in the region, reports VOA.

An agreement was signed by members of AUKUS—US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak—at a US Navy base in San Diego, California. Biden described the project as part of a commitment to ensuring an open and free Indo-Pacific region with the most reliable partners of the US.

Sunak, in turn, referred to the project as a "powerful partnership," adding: "For the first time, this will mean that the three underwater fleets, working together in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, will secure the freedom of our oceans." According to the agreement, the US will supply Australia with three Virginia-class attack submarines equipped with nuclear-powered propulsion, which will be produced by General Dynamics at the beginning of the next decade. Australia will also have the option to acquire two additional submarines.

The UK and Australia will also begin producing a new class of submarines based on British programs and utilizing American advanced technologies to meet their needs. It is expected that the UK will receive its first such submarine in the late 2030s, while Australia will do so in the early 2040s.