United States President Joe Biden unveiled a landmark new submarine deal with Australia and Britain to counter China's continued military expansion in the Indo-Pacific.
The plan would have the US government provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines starting in the early 2030s. On Monday, Biden addressed a ceremony at the US naval base in San Diego accompanied by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Landmark Submarine Deal
In his remarks, Biden called the agreement under the 2021 AUKUS partnership part of a shared commitment to a free-and-open Indo-Pacific region with two of the US's "most stalwart and capable allies."
The British prime minister called the deal a "powerful partnership," adding that it was the first time that three fleets of submarines would work together across the Atlantic and Pacific to keep the oceans free for the next decades.
Under the latest agreement, which Asian allies welcomed on Tuesday but resulted in Beijing being furious, the US would sell three US Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. General Dynamics built these, and the deal would allow Australian officials to buy two more if they needed to, as per Reuters.
The deal also noted that the multi-stage project would culminate with Australian and British production and operation of a new submarine class known as SSN-AUKUS. It is a "trilaterally developed" vessel based on Britain's next-generation design and would be built in Australia and Britain and include "cutting edge" US technologies.
Britain would deliver its first SSN-AUKUS submarine in the late 2030s, while Australia would receive its first vessel in the early 2040s. BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce will build the submarines.
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Counter China's Expanding Influence
During the ceremony, Albanese said that the AUKUS agreement represents the largest single investment in Australia's defense capability history. He added that it would strengthen the country's national security and the region's stability.
Biden said that the US has, for decades, safeguarded stability in the Indo-Pacific for the benefit of countries throughout the region. He added that the American government was now, again, showing how democracies can deliver security and prosperity for itself and the whole world, according to the New York Times.
The US president said that the country would, for the first time in 65 years, share technology at the heart of its nuclear submarines. This would allow Australia and Britain to manufacture fleets that could face off against Chinese vessels in the South China Sea and other waters.
The three-way defense partnership is the latest development in the efforts to counter China's continued attempts at dominating the seas in the Indo-Pacific and, potentially, its plans to invade the self-governing island of Taiwan.
Sunak noted that Beijing's growing assertiveness and the destabilizing behavior of Iran and North Korea all threaten to fill the world with anger, disorder, and division. He noted that with the new agreement, it is even more crucial to strengthen the resilience of other countries, said CNN.
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