published by, Saurabh Verma
Last Update: March 14, 2023, 22:51 IST
US President Joe Biden, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and British PM Rishi Sunak comment on the AUKUS partnership on March 13, 2023 in San Diego. (Photo Credits: Reuters)
Sunak, who is in San Diego with US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, said the conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine dubbed ‘SSN-AUKUS’ will be built at British shipyards.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that the first generation of AUKUS nuclear submarines to be built at a British shipyard is a “tangible demonstration” of the country’s commitment to global security.
The AUKUS pact, which is a tripartite alliance between the UK, the US and Australia, is seen as a response to an aggressive China in the strategic Indo-Pacific region, which includes its claims over most of the disputed South China Sea.
Sunak, who is in San Diego with US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, said the conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine called ‘SSN-Oceus’ would be built at British shipyards.
“The AUKUS partnership, and the submarines we are building in British shipyards, are a concrete demonstration of our commitment to global security,” Sunak said in a statement released by Downing Street.
“This partnership was established based on our shared values and a steadfast focus on maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. And I’m delighted that the plans we’ve announced today bring leading-edge British design expertise to protect our people and our allies for generations to come.
It follows the UK government’s latest Integrated Review of its foreign policy tabled in Parliament, which highlights that the so-called Indo-Pacific “tilt” of the 2021 review is now a permanent pillar of UK international policy And the AUKUS agreement is a key. element of that column.
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said, “This is an important step for our three countries as we work together to contribute to security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.”
“Supporting thousands of jobs across the UK, with many in the North West of England, this effort will drive prosperity in our country and demonstrate the power of British industry to our allies and partners,” he said.
The SSN-AUKUS submarines are touted as “the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines” operated by Britain’s Royal Navy, combining world-leading sensors, design and weaponry in a single vessel.
According to Downing Street, “Choosing an interoperable submarine design will enable the Royal Navy, alongside its Australian and American counterparts, to work together to meet shared threats and deter aggression.” Construction of the new submarines will begin later this decade and Downing Street said decisions on how many submarines the UK needs in the coming years will be based on the strategic threat picture at that time.
They will be built by BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce and once they become operational, the new SSN-AUKUS submarines will eventually replace the UK’s current Estute-class submarines.
Both Australia and the UK will build new submarines of the same design, with the UK submarines being built primarily at Barrow-in-Furness in north-west England.
Downing Street said the first UK submarines built to this design would be delivered in the late 2030s and the first Australian submarines would arrive in the early 2040s.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)