{"id":67260,"date":"2021-09-16T15:15:30","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T05:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=67260"},"modified":"2021-09-16T15:07:54","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T05:07:54","slug":"australias-nuclear-submarine-deal-negotiated-in-great-secrecy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australias-nuclear-submarine-deal-negotiated-in-great-secrecy\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s nuclear submarine deal negotiated in great secrecy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

American officials have stressed the importance of Australia having nuclear-powered submarines that are fast, discreet, with extremely long range and able to operate closely with their own undersea fleet.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a remarkable turnround in the very few years since United States representatives consistently declared that their naval nuclear technology would not be shared even with as close an ally as Australia.<\/p>\n

In a White House briefing, two unnamed senior administration officials have provided detail behind the creation of a new trilateral security partnership\u2014AUKUS\u2014involving the US, United Kingdom and Australia as maritime nations focused on the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n

The first initiative of AUKUS would be to \u2018support Australia\u2019s desire to acquire nuclear-powered submarines\u2019, they said.\u00a0That would start with an 18-month effort by technical, strategic and navy teams from all three countries to work out how this can be done.<\/p>\n

The decision followed months of high-level negotiations carried out in secrecy, the officials said, and would mark the biggest strategic step that Australia had taken in generations.<\/p>\n

\u2018This allows Australia to play at a much higher level and to augment American capabilities that will be similar. And this is about maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.\u2019<\/p>\n

The officials added that \u2018Australia has basically indicated that they want to ensure that they\u2019re playing a strategic role in that overall effort.\u2019<\/p>\n

They said the deal was \u2018huge\u2019 in Australia and negotiations were carried out with a high degree of discretion. Regional leaders were only now being briefed.<\/p>\n

Nuclear-powered submarines were stealthier, faster, more manoeuvrable and more likely to survive in combat. And they had much greater range. Conventionally powered submarines had to run near the surface regularly to recharge their batteries and their range was limited.<\/p>\n

The US had only shared this kind of nuclear technology once before, the officials said. That was with the UK and it was in 1958.<\/p>\n

\u2018One of the reasons why we\u2019ve done this with Australia, with Great Britain, is because of the experience, lessons learned and history associated with this program, which will be extremely valuable in the engagement with Australia.\u2019<\/p>\n

The officials said such a technology transfer was unlikely to happen again. \u2018This technology is extremely sensitive. This is, frankly, an exception to our policy in many respects. I do not anticipate that this will be undertaken in other circumstances going forward. We view this as a one-off.\u2019<\/p>\n

They stressed that the process of equipping the Royal Australian Navy with nuclear submarines would be both challenging and important. \u2018Australia does not have a nuclear domestic infrastructure. They\u2019ve made a major commitment to go in this direction. This will be a sustained effort over years.<\/p>\n

\u2018And everything that we\u2019ve seen from Australia indicates that they\u2019re determined to proceed on this course, and we have high confidence, complete confidence, that they will be effective in this pursuit.\u2019<\/p>\n

Because nuclear submarines were much more capable than conventionally powered boats, \u2018they will allow us to sustain and to improve deterrence across the Indo-Pacific. As part of that, we will work closely on efforts to ensure the best practices with respect to nuclear stewardship. I think you will see much deeper interoperability among our navies and our nuclear infrastructure people to ensure that our countries are working very closely together.\u2019<\/p>\n

This decision would bind Australia to the US and the UK decisively for generations.<\/p>\n

US President Joe Biden\u2019s administration remained deeply committed to American leadership and nuclear non-proliferation, the officials said. \u2018This is nuclear propulsion. Australia has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons. And Australia is, in fact, a leader in all non-proliferation efforts in the [Non-Proliferation Treaty] and elsewhere.\u2019<\/p>\n

The officials said this partnership was, in many ways, possible because of Australia\u2019s longstanding and demonstrated commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.<\/p>\n

They noted that this was a historic development. \u2018It reflects the Biden administration\u2019s determination to build stronger partnerships to sustain peace and stability across the entire Indo-Pacific region,\u2019 one said. \u2018This new architecture is really about deepening cooperation on a range of defence capabilities for the 21st century.\u2019<\/p>\n

They said this new alignment was intended to pursue deeper interoperability and to spur cooperation across many new and emerging arenas such as cyber, artificial intelligence and particularly applied AI, quantum technologies, and \u2018some undersea capabilities as well\u2019.<\/p>\n

There\u2019d be a strong focus on increasing information- and technology-sharing with a much more dedicated effort to pursue integration of security- and defence-related science, technology and industrial bases and supply chains. \u2018This will be a sustained effort over many years to see how we can marry and merge some of our independent and individual capabilities into greater trilateral engagement as we go forward.\u2019<\/p>\n

That would be take place alongside the development of stronger US bilateral partnerships with nations including Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines\u2014and stronger engagement with new partners like India and Vietnam, and new formations like the Quad.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is designed not only to strengthen our capabilities in the Indo-Pacific but to link Europe, and particularly Great Britain, more closely with our strategic pursuits in the region as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u2018Great Britain is very focused on the concept of \u201cglobal Britain,\u201d and their tilt is about engaging much more deeply with the Indo-Pacific, and this is a down payment on that effort.\u2019<\/p>\n

The officials said that for decades the US had secured peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. \u2018I think it\u2019d be fair to say, over the last several years, there have been questions: Does the United States still have the stomach?\u2019 one said.<\/p>\n

\u2018What president Biden is saying with this initiative is: \u201cCount us in. We are all in for a deeper, sustained commitment to the Indo-Pacific, and we recognise that one of our critical roles is indeed the maintenance of peace and stability there.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American officials have stressed the importance of Australia having nuclear-powered submarines that are fast, discreet, with extremely long range and able to operate closely with their own undersea fleet. 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