Australia Commits A$3.9bn to Nuclear Submarine Facility Under AUKUS
SYDNEY : Australia has announced A$3.9 billion in spending as a down payment on a new facility to build nuclear submarines under the tripartite AUKUS security pact with United Kingdom and the United States.
The AUKUS agreement is aimed at equipping Australia with a fleet of advanced submarines sourced from the United States and includes cooperation on the development of a range of warfare technologies.
The investment will be directed toward the Submarine Construction Yard at Osborne, near the southern city of Adelaide. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the project is critical to delivering Australia’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.
In the long term, total spending on the facility is expected to reach around A$30 billion.
The submarines, whose sale is set to begin in 2032, form a central part of Australia’s strategy to enhance its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific, particularly in relation to China.
The broader deal could cost Canberra up to A$235 billion over the next 30 years and also includes technology that would allow Australia to build its own submarines in the future.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said the new facility would be central to that objective, adding that the transformation underway at Osborne demonstrates Australia’s progress toward establishing a sovereign capability to build nuclear-powered submarines over the coming decades.
Australia’s decision to pursue the AUKUS program followed the cancellation in 2021 of a multi-billion-dollar agreement with France to acquire diesel-powered submarines.
Tags: Australia, AUKUS, nuclear submarines, defence spending, Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, submarine construction, Pacific security
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