To counter China: US and UK equip Australia with submarines To counter China: US and UK equip Australia with submarines

The stated goal of their alliance is to strengthen security and military deterrence in the Indo-Pacific – wherever China is trying to expand its power. Shortly before a meeting of the heads of government of all three countries in San Diego on Monday, senior US officials presented details of the new schedule.

According to this, the US and Britain want to station alternate submarines in Australia from 2027. In the 2030s, Australia is then expected to build its own fleet of nuclear submarines. It involves a nuclear propulsion system, not nuclear armament. First, the country will buy submarines from the United States, it said. In the long term, the three countries plan to jointly develop a submarine model that will eventually be built in Australia itself.

Security experts see the alliance and its major project primarily as an attempt to counter China’s growing power struggle in the Indo-Pacific – even as the three countries assure that their alliance should not send a signal to any single country.

The US, UK and Australia launched the security alliance called Aukus in 2021. The name is derived from the English abbreviations of the three countries (AUS, UK and USA). US President Joe Biden wanted to discuss how the alliance should move forward with UK and Australian heads of government Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese in San Diego, California, on Monday. The US has a large military port in San Diego.

US government officials commented in advance on the multi-phase schedule for the tri-country project. The first phase has already started and will be intensified in the coming years.

This included joint exercises and the training of Australian seafarers, engineers, technicians and other personnel. American and British submarines would call at more ports in Australia. Australian sailors would in turn be integrated into US and UK submarine units. From 2027, the deployment of rotating units of US and British submarines is planned in Australia.

The second phase will start in early 2030. Once Australians are properly trained, the country will purchase three conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines from the US, with the option to purchase two more if necessary.

In the long run, a new submarine model that combines American, British and Australian technology should finally be built. This will initially be built in the UK from the late 2030s. The first model of this type to be produced in Australia should also be ready in the early 2040s.

The US officials reiterated that the primary purpose of the Aukus Alliance was “to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and to deter and defend against rapidly evolving threats to the international order and system there.” They did not mention China of their own accord, only when asked.

Stability in the region is increasingly threatened by China, among others, it added. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has taken several provocative measures in recent years, such as increased activity in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan stressed that the alliance is not sending a message to any single country. Rather, it is a positive message to all countries in the region and the world.

The announcement of the plans did not come out of the blue, but had been prepared more than 18 months after the alliance was formed, he said. “Indeed, we have consulted closely with allies, partners and countries in the Indo-Pacific, and we have spoken directly with China to explain what Aukus is and is not.” The alliance is conducted with great transparency.

Relations between the US and China are strained due to a slew of controversial issues. The Biden administration sees the emerging People’s Republic as its biggest geopolitical challenge and competition. The Chinese government had recently taken an unusually harsh tone against the United States in public, accusing the United States and the West of trying to prevent China’s rise in the world. President Xi spoke of “containment, encirclement and suppression of China”.

Beijing had already reacted indignantly to the establishment of the Aukus Alliance in 2021. The pact also caused great outrage elsewhere in the world: France was angry at the time about the new alliance because the Aukus pact, a contract worth 56 billion euros for the supply of French submarines to Australia, burst. (sda/dpa)