US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that Australia would acquire the conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs). The announcement, which came in a Joint Leaders Statement on Monday, culminates the AUKUS – a new security partnership, unveiled in September 2021 to promote “a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.” “The first major initiative of AUKUS was our historic trilateral decision to support Australia acquiring conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs). Today, we announce our pathway to achieve this critical capability,” the leaders statement affirmed. “Together we will deliver SSN-AUKUS – a trilaterally-developed submarine based on the United Kingdom’s next-generation design that incorporates technology from all three nations, including cutting edge US submarine technologies. “Australia and the United Kingdom will operate SSN-AUKUS as their submarine of the future. Australia and the United Kingdom will begin work to build SSN-AUKUS in their domestic shipyards within this decade,” the statement reads. “In order to deliver conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines to Australia at the earliest possible date, we intend to pursue the following phased approach, moving through each phase based on mutual commitments from each nation: Beginning in 2023, Australian military and civilian personnel will embed with the U.S. Navy, the Royal Navy, and in the United States and United Kingdom submarine industrial bases to accelerate the training of Australian personnel. “Starting in the early 2030s, pending Congressional approval, the United States intends to sell Australia three Virginia class submarines, with the potential to sell up to two more if needed. “This step will systematically grow Australia’s sovereign SSN capability and support capacity,” according to the trilateral statement. In the late 2030s, the United Kingdom will deliver its first SSN-AUKUS to the Royal Navy. Australia will deliver the first SSN-AUKUS built in Australia to the Royal Australian Navy in the early 2040s. The leaders’ statement followed unilateral and trilateral meetings by President Biden with both Albanese and Sunak in California.
Source: Kuwait News Agency