Australia and Britain sign deal for joint submarine production – Firstpost

Australia and Britain said they would conclude a bilateral treaty to produce a new class of nuclear-powered submarines, under the AUKUS partnership that also includes the United States.

Australia will buy American Virginia-class submarines from the United States over the next decade, while Britain and Australia will later build a new class of AUKUS submarines at Barrow-in-Furness in Britain and in South Australia, in the context of the announced AUKUS pact. in 2023.

“We will negotiate a treaty, a bilateral treaty, between Australia and Britain to enable our part of AUKUS,” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters after meeting with his British and American counterparts in London on Thursday .

“We will operate with the same class of submarines. So if you look at the industrial cooperation, the technology transfer, the way all these mechanisms work for that, that is the subject of the treaty,” he added.

British Defense Secretary John Healey said the AUKUS Defense Ministers meeting had also approved the use of British-made Stingray torpedoes in P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft, which are used as submarine fighters in the Indo Pacific -region.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said AUKUS partners have conducted significant experiments across the ground, undersea and electromagnetic spectrum to improve warfighting capabilities as part of cooperation under the so-called AUKUS “Pillar Two”.

A joint statement said AUKUS partners are increasing their ability to develop and deliver offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies and will conduct a large-scale drone exercise later this year.