KATHMANDU, March 14: Under the Aukus deal, Australia will first receive at least three US nuclear-powered submarines.
The allies will also work together to create a new fleet using state-of-the-art technology, including jets made by Rolls-Royce in the UK.
The pact is aimed at countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Speaking to the other leaders in San Diego, California, US President Joe Biden stressed that the ships would not have nuclear weapons and would not jeopardize Australia’s commitment to be nuclear free.
Under the deal outlined on Monday, members of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) will be embedded at US and UK submarine bases from this year to gain the skills needed to use the submarines.
Starting in 2027, the US and UK will base a small number of nuclear submarines at a RAN base in Perth, Western Australia, before Australia buys three US Virginia-class submarines in the early 2030s, with options to buy two more.
After that, the plan is to design and build an entirely new nuclear-powered submarine for the UK and Australian navies, called SSN-AUKUS.
This attack craft will be built in Britain and Australia to a British design, but will use technology from all three countries.
The interim and future ships will give Australia submarines that can travel further and faster than its current fleet, with cruise missiles that could hit targets on land and at sea.
President Biden said that the three countries were committed to ensuring that the region remained free and open. He was flanked by the Prime Ministers of Australia and the United Kingdom, Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak, respectively.
“By forging this new partnership, we are demonstrating once again how democracies can provide our own security and prosperity… not just for ourselves but for the entire world,” he said.
As part of Monday’s announcement, the US also pledged a total of $4.6bn (£3.7bn) over the next few years to develop its submarine building capacity and improve the maintenance of its Virginia-class submarines.
Australia’s Anthony Albanese said the submarine plan would create thousands of new jobs and mark the “biggest single investment in Australia’s defense capability in its entire history”.
“This will be an Australian sovereign capacity, commanded by the Royal Australian Navy and supported by Australian workers in Australian shipyards with construction starting this decade,” Albanese said.
He also noted that the agreement marks the first time in 65 years and only the second time in history that the United States has shared its nuclear propulsion technology.
UK Prime Minister Sunak said that in the 18 months since the pact was unveiled, the challenges to global stability had only increased.
“Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, China’s increasing assertiveness, Iran’s and North Korea’s destabilizing behavior all threaten to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division.”
As part of his visit to the US, Sunak also pledged to increase defense spending by nearly £5 billion ($6 billion) over the next two years to counter threats from hostile states.
The pact has drawn repeated criticism from China. Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning last week reiterated Beijing’s position that the pact risks creating an arms race and “undermines peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.” .
“We urge the United States, Britain and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game, faithfully fulfill their international obligations and do more to contribute to regional peace and stability,” he said.
Addressing concerns that the West would increase its military presence in the Indo-Pacific, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan insisted that Washington had no intention of creating a new NATO-like alliance.
While the three leaders have wanted to emphasize how the agreement will strengthen their cooperation and contribute to global stability, it has not been without its political consequences.
In 2021, Australia canceled a multi-billion dollar submarine deal with France in favor of the trilateral deal, sparking a political rift with Paris.
The BBC’s Phil Mercer, in Sydney, says the deal makes the Australian military more aligned with the US and UK than ever before.
The Australian government is hailing the deal’s strategic importance, as well as the fact that it will create thousands of jobs.
But the country faces a very delicate diplomacy in the future, our correspondent adds.
China is Australia’s most important trading partner, and the question will be whether Australia can strengthen its military ties with the US while fostering greater trade ties with Beijing.
Aukus will cost Australia up to A$368 billion (£201 billion) over the next three decades, the government says.
No decision has been made on a future submarine base on the east coast, although Port Kembla, near Wollongong, 100 km (62 mi) south of Sydney, is believed to be a likely location.
A local official said his community was concerned about the possibility of a nearby nuclear submarine base.
“It is causing alarm that it could make us a potential military target,” Cath Blakey, a Green Party councillor, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“I think it is a potential sovereign risk for Australia to join the United States and the United Kingdom.”
