Britain and Australia sign a 50-year AUKUS submarine partnership agreement
The Australian government announced on Saturday that it and Britain had inked a treaty to strengthen collaboration on the AUKUS nuclear submarine alliance for the next fifty years.
Australia, Britain, and the United States signed the AUKUS deal in 2021 with the goal of arming Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines within the following ten years to thwart China’s aspirations in the Indo-Pacific. This year, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the accord would be formally reviewed.
Following a meeting in the Victoria state city of Geelong on Saturday, the bilateral treaty was signed with British Defence Secretary John Healey, according to a statement from Defence Minister Richard Marles.
“The Geelong Treaty will enable comprehensive cooperation on the design, build, operation, sustainment, and disposal of our SSN-AUKUS submarines,” added the statement.
The treaty built on the “strong foundation” of trilateral AUKUS collaboration and was described as a “commitment for the next 50 years of UK-Australian bilateral defense cooperation under AUKUS Pillar I.”
The bilateral agreement will support the submarine programs of both countries, according to Britain’s ministry of defense, which claimed this week that it could generate up to 20 billion pounds ($27.1 billion) in export revenue for the country over the next 25 years.
With Canberra pledging to invest A$368 billion over three decades in the program, including billions of dollars in the U.S. production base, AUKUS is Australia’s largest defense initiative to date.
Australia has insisted that it is certain the agreement will go forward, having paid the United States A$800 million this month in the second installment under AUKUS.
During Australia’s biggest war exercises, the British and Australian foreign and defence ministers met in Sydney on Friday to discuss ways to increase collaboration.
The Talisman Sabre exercises, which are being held from July 13 to August 4, involve up to 40,000 personnel from 19 nations. According to Australia’s military, the drills are a practice for cooperative combat aimed at preserving Indo-Pacific stability.
The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is participating in the exercise, which is being co-hosted by the United States and Australia, marking a significant rise in Britain’s participation.
