In this article, you will get detail regarding US brokers secret deal to sell Nuclear-powered submarines to Australia
WASHINGTON – Australia will buy US-made nuclear-powered attack submarines to modernize its fleet, a European official and a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday, amid growing concerns about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
The deal to buy the Virginia-class submarines will be announced on Monday when President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet in San Diego to discuss the 18-month nuclear partnership known by the acronym AUKUS. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter before publication.
The AUKUS agreement, announced in 2021, paved the way for Australia to gain access to nuclear-powered submarines, which are stealthier and more capable than conventionally powered boats.
“We all recognize the imperative to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific for the long term,” Biden said in September 2021 when the partnership was announced. “We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region and how it might evolve.”
The secretly brokered deal involved the Australian government canceling a $66 billion contract for France’s fleet of conventional submarines, sparking a diplomatic row within the Western alliance that took months to resolve.
A European official said France was aware of the terms of the sales agreement. Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, the White House said, adding that they “discussed cooperation between the United States and France in the Indo-Pacific region.”
The submarines, which cost $3 billion each, are being built at shipyards in Virginia and Connecticut. Under the terms of the deal, the submarines will also eventually be built in the UK and Australia with US technology and support, the person familiar with the matter said. The original plans called for all the submarines to be built in Adelaide, Australia.
The US would also step up its port visits to Australia to better familiarize the country with nuclear-powered technology.
The White House declined to comment on the submarine purchase ahead of a planned meeting on Monday.
Story by Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani.
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US brokers secret deal to sell Nuclear-powered submarines to Australia
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