Australia Friday called a new nuclear technology agreement with the United States and Britain a “very significant step down the … path” toward a nuclear-powered fleet of submarines. Australia struck the deal Monday, aimed at allowing transfer of nuclear equipment and technology for the country’s proposed fleet. It is the latest advance in the 2021 AUKUS security pact linking the three countries.
The agreement, described by U.S officials as another significant "AUKUS milestone,” is a further step to giving Australia the technology and hardware to build, run and maintain nuclear-powered submarines.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister, signed the latest part of the trilateral accord in the United States Monday. He called the agreement "a key foundational document.”
Under plans unveiled in San Diego, California, last year, Australia intends to spend up to $242 billion over the next 30 years to first buy second-hand Virginia-class submarines from the United States and then develop a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines using technology from Rolls Royce.
Marles told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Friday the AUKUS pact is taking an important step forward.
“This agreement is the legal underpinning for that technology to be provided to Australia, for ultimately the nuclear equipment to be provided to Australia. So, that is both the Virginia Class submarines from the United States [and] the nuclear reactors from Rolls Royce that will form part of the submarines that we build in Australia,” he said.
The AUKUS accord is widely seen as a counter to China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing has said the security pact undermines peace and stability.
China accused Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of fueling military confrontation when the AUKUS accord was signed in 2021.
The alliance has been criticized by former Australian Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Keating, who have said the deal would erode the country’s sovereignty.
