Australia will invest $8 billion in a shipyard for nuclear submarines
Australia said on Saturday that it would invest A$12 billion ($8 billion) in Western Australia to build defense facilities that will aid in the delivery of submarines as part of the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.
In order to challenge China’s aspirations in the Indo-Pacific area, Australia, Britain, and the United States agreed in 2021 to the AUKUS treaty, which calls for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines within the following ten years. A formal assessment of the agreement is being conducted by the administration of President Donald Trump.
In addition to supporting ongoing naval construction in Western Australia and Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine pipeline, the proposed precinct is “critical to Australia’s shipbuilding and sustainment industry,” according to Defence Minister Richard Marles.
“To deliver the capabilities Australia needs, the center-left Labor government is continuing to increase defense spending to record levels,” Marles said in a statement.
Last year, it invested A$127 million ($84 million) to expand facilities at the Henderson shipyard in Perth, with plans to invest billions of dollars over the next 20 years to turn it into a maintenance base for its fleet of AUKUS submarines.
Along with sustaining about 10,000 local jobs, the precinct will also produce the new general-purpose frigates for the navy and the new landing boats for the Australian army, according to the government.
Under AUKUS, which is valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, Australia will purchase several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from Washington, and Britain and Australia will thereafter construct a new AUKUS-class submarine.
During the July evaluation of the agreement by Elbridge Colby, a senior Pentagon policy official and vocal opponent of the agreement, the Republican and Democratic leaders of a U.S. congressional committee for strategic rivalry with China emphasized their strong support for AUKUS.
Australia has insisted that it is certain the agreement will go forward. That same month, Australia and Britain inked a treaty to strengthen collaboration on AUKUS for the next 50 years.
