Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: The United States (US) President Joe Biden meets with the leaders of Australia and Britain on Monday at a California naval base for a possible announcement of a nuclear submarines deal focused on strengthening Western military muscle in the context of a rising China.
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Premear Anthony Albanese will join Biden at the base in San Diego after a break of 18 months when their countries formed an alliance called AUKUS with the basic goal of bringing Australia into the fold of navies having nuclear-powered submarines.
As Australia has ruled out deploying atomic weapons, its acquisition of the nuclear-powered vessels would transform its role in a US-led project to contain the decades-old balance of power in the Pacific.
Meeting in California to focus on Subs Pact
As reported by the US media, Joe Biden will announce a long-term, multi-stage plan destined to have Australia a full partner in fielding top-secret US nuclear technology only shared with historic ally Britain in the past.
The Washington Post reported that almost five Virginia-class US nuclear-powered submarines would be sold to Australia over the next decade. Britain and Australia would then both embark on building a new submarine model, utilizing US propulsion technology and dubbed the SSN-AUKUS, with delivery in 2040.
While the plan will need years to come to fruition, it marks an ambitious shift from the US and Australia as they contemplate the fast expansion of Chinese military power, including Beijing’s building up a sophisticated naval fleet and turning its islands into offshore bases.
In the context of growing challenges from China and Russia’s invasion of pro-Western Ukraine, the United Kingdom is also moving to expedite its military capabilities.
Over the next two years, over $6 billion in additional funding will “replenish and boost crucial ammunition stocks, modernize the nuclear enterprise of UK and fund the upcoming phase of the AUKUS submarine program,” Downing Street stated on Monday.
