Australia to buy up to five US nuclear submarines

The submarines are part of the AUKUS pact with the UK, which may also jointly develop a vessel with Australia.

Australia is expected to buy up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the 2030s as part of a landmark Pacific security pact with the US and UK, according to four US officials.

Under the so-called AUKUS deal, at least one US submarine will visit Australian ports in the coming years and a new class of submarines will be built using UK designs and US technology by the end of the 2030s, one of the officials told the Reuters news agency.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego on Monday to reveal the next steps for AUKUS. The Pacific security pact First announced in September 2021 is seen as an attempt to counter China’s growing power and assertive positioning in the region and has drawn condemnation from Beijing.

Two of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that after annual port visits, the United States would deploy some submarines to Western Australia around 2027.

In the early 2030s, Australia would purchase three Virginia-class submarines, with an option to purchase two more.

Australia has an existing fleet of six conventionally powered Collins-class submarines, whose service lives will run until 2036. Nuclear subs can stay underwater longer than conventional ones and are more difficult to detect.

The officials did not elaborate on the planned new class of submarines, not even offering details on production locations.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing multiple unnamed sources, that the UK had “succeeded in its attempt to sell British-designed nuclear submarines to Australia” and that Sunak was “in an uproar” when it He told the ministers.

He suggested that the US Virginia-class submarines would be a “replacement” while Australia and the UK worked together on a design for a next-generation submarine of the existing Astute-class vessel, noting that the complexity of the task meant that it might not be ready until the 2040s.

The Pentagon referred inquiries to the White House, which declined to confirm details about any upcoming announcement. The UK embassy in Washington, DC did not comment directly on the Reuters report, but repeated an announcement from London that Sunak would travel to the US to continue talks on AUKUS.

The Australian embassy in Washington, DC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Under the initial AUKUS agreement, the US and the UK agreed to provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines.

At the moment, none of the parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), apart from the five countries that the treaty recognizes as weapon states (China, France, Russia, the UK and the US), have nuclear submarines.