Australia and Britain have signed an ambitious deal to strengthen co-operation in the development and production of nuclear submarines, the Australian government’s press office said.
The agreement was concluded for 50 years on Saturday following a meeting between Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and British Defence Minister John Gili in Geelong, Victoria.
“The agreement will ensure full co-operation in the design, construction, operation, maintenance and disposal of SSN-AUKUS submarines,” Minister Marles said in a statement.
The agreement was “a commitment for the next 50 years of bilateral defence cooperation between the UK and Australia under the first pillar of AUKUS” and builds on “a strong foundation of trilateral engagement within AUKUS”, it added.
The British Ministry of Defence said the pact will “underpin the submarine construction programmes of both countries” and could bring up to 20 billion pounds ($27.1 billion) in exports to the British economy over the next 25 years.
The AUKUS partnership, signed between Australia, the UK and the US in 2021, envisages the transfer of nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia in the next decade, which is said to curb China’s growing ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.