Australia is embarking on its most significant change of defence and strategic direction in decades, aiming to make the Navy's next submarine fleet nuclear-powered.
Key points:
- Australia, the UK and US have formed a new security partnership named AUKUS
- As a first initiative, AUKUS will build nuclear submarines for Australia's fleet
- The new partnership is designed to counter threats in the Indo-Pacific
In a deal announced by US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the US will share secret nuclear technology to help Australia in the switch to nuclear-powered boats.
The fleet will be the first initiative of a newly formed trilateral security partnership called AUKUS.
Mr Morrison said the "next generation" partnership would help ensure the region's safety.
"Our world is becoming more complex, especially here in our region, the Indo-Pacific," Mr Morrison said.
"This affects us all. The future of the Indo-Pacific will impact all our futures."
The deal does not extend to nuclear weapons, only the propulsion system, which has always been conventional diesel-electric in Australia's submarine classes.
"We will continue to meet all of our nuclear non-proliferation obligations."
Mr Johnson also emphasised the deal did not violate nuclear non-proliferation treaties.
"We're opening a new chapter in our friendship, and the first task of this partnership will be to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, emphasising, of course, that the submarines in question will be powered by nuclear reactors — not armed with nuclear weapons," he said.
"Our work will be fully in line with our non-proliferation obligations."
Partnership to 'ensure' region's stability now and in future, Biden says
In a joint statement, the three leaders said AUKUS would also leverage UK and US expertise to bring cyber, artificial intelligence and quantum computing capabilities to Australia.
Thanking "that fellow Down Under", US President Joe Biden said the new partnership would ensure the three countries had the most modern capabilities to defend against "rapid threats".
"We're taking another historic step to deepen and formalise cooperation among all three of our nations, because we all recognise the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long-term," Mr Biden said.
The leaders said they aimed to "bring an Australian [nuclear submarine] capability into service at the earliest achievable date".
Existing $90 billion submarine project scrapped
The new partnership also spells the end of the Australian government's $90 billion project for French-designed submarines to be built in Adelaide.
In a statement, France's Naval Group said it was disappointed the Australian government had scrapped the project:
"For five years, Naval Group teams, both in France and in Australia, as well as our partners, have given their best and Naval Group has delivered on all its commitments,.
This is a major disappointment for Naval Group, which was offering Australia a regionally superior conventional submarine with exceptional performances."
– Naval Group
Defence had been openly discussing abandoning the multi-billion dollar project since June, as the French deal faltered.
In a fuming statement, France's foreign affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the decision has betrayed "the letter and spirit" of cooperation between the two countries.
"The American choice which leads to the removal of an ally and a European partner such as France from a structuring partnership with Australia, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region ... marks an absence of coherence that France can only observe and regret."
– Jean-Yves Le Drian, Foreign Affairs Minister, France
Urgent inquiry call
Former submariner and Senator Rex Patrick has called for an urgent inquiry before the deal is finalised.
"There's so many, sort-of-complex issues: If it's a US submarine, they have highly enriched uranium in their reactors and that creates a proliferation issue in terms of Australia standing up saying, ‘No one should have these this sort of fuel available to them’," he said.
"Yet, we might end up having to have that on our submarines."
Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, backed the new deal and said his initial response was "surprise".
"This is something that has been negotiated very quickly and has obviously been kept quiet in Canberra," he told ABC News.
"The irony is that when we chose the French-designed submarine a few years ago we actually took a nuclear-powered submarine and have been spending millions of dollars turning it into a diesel submarine."
Mr Jennings said Australia would likely have to spend more on its defence budget to support the partnership.
Getty Images/US Navy
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2021-09-15 21:10:44Z
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