Australia and the UK yesterday said that a landmark deal to develop AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines would go ahead, despite mounting fears about costs, capabilities and the possible return of former US president Donald Trump.
Under the fledgling AUKUS deal, the two countries along with the US have pledged to beef up their military muscle in a bid to counter China’s rise. Defense chiefs this week unveiled ambitious plans to supply Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, a key pillar of the agreement.
“The three governments involved here are working at pace to make this happen,” Australian Minister for Defense Richard Marles told reporters yesterday. “This is going to happen and we need it to happen.”
Photo: REUTERS
Barely two years old, there are already signs that AUKUS and its central project could be under threat. Some fear Trump could jettison the pact if he wins this year’s US presidential election, returning to his “America first” style of foreign policy.
British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Cameron suggested that “brilliant” AUKUS and other alliances like NATO — which he dubbed “the most successful defense alliance in history” — needed to be fighting fit come US election time.
“I think whoever is president, the best thing we can do is to get those alliances, to get those projects into the best possible shape so whoever is the new president can see that they’re working,” Cameron said.
He added that he had “total confidence” that the deal would go ahead.
With potential flashpoints emerging across the globe, and China taking an increasingly aggressive stance in the Taiwan Strait, visiting British Secretary of Defence Grant Shapps said AUKUS was as crucial as ever.
After decades of relative peace, Shapps said the planet was slowly shifting from a “post-war” era to a “pre-war” footing. “We are living in more dangerous times,” he said during a tour of the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia.
UK defense contractor BAE Systems has been enlisted to help construct Australia’s fleet of nuclear-propelled submarines.
Australia hopes to have eight nuclear-powered vessels in the water by the 2050s — a mix of the new AUKUS-class subs built at home and in the UK, and Virgina-class vessels purchased from the US.
Marles said a “drumbeat” of AUKUS-class submarines would then continue to roll off Australian production lines “every few years” in perpetuity.
“There is no country in the world which has obtained the capability to build nuclear-powered submarines, which has then turned that capability off,” he said.
Although the financial details of the BAE deal are under wraps, Australian defense officials want to initially build at least five AUKUS-class nuclear-powered subs at a cost of billions of dollars. The subs are to be quieter and stealthier than Australia’s existing diesel fleet, and capable of deploying over vast distances without surfacing, posing a potent threat to any foe.
BAE Systems, one of the largest defense contractors in Europe, said it was “already making good progress on the design and development of the next generation submarine.”
The company has a close relationship with the British Royal Navy, and is responsible for building its Astute-class and Dreadnought-class nuclear-powered vessels.
The scale of the project is vast, and questions have been raised about whether Australia — with limited nuclear experience and a relatively small navy — could pull it off.
Australian officials believe that about 20,000 workers would be needed for the homegrown nuclear industry — among them an army of technicians, metal workers, electricians and welders.
The Australian Navy has struggled to maintain its current fleet of aging diesel-electric subs, which have been plagued by design flaws and cost blowouts.
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