MELBOURNE: Britain and Australia announced they will sign a cooperation treaty to build Australian nuclear-powered submarines and welcomed a review by President Donald Trump’s administration of the United States’ role in the trilateral defense deal.
Britain’s Defense Secretary John Healey and Foreign Secretary David Lammy met Friday with their Australian counterparts Richard Marles and Penny Wong in Sydney for an annual bilateral meeting.
Marles said he and Healey will sign a 50-year treaty Saturday that will underpin bilateral cooperation on building an Australian fleet of submarines powered by US nuclear technology.
“It is as significant a treaty as has been signed between our two countries since federation,” Marles said, referring to the unification of several British colonies to form the Australian government in 1901.
The three-way alliance was announced in 2021 to contend with growing Chinese military might in the Asia-Pacific region. It would deliver Australia at least eight submarines including three to five second-hand US Virginia-class submarines. Britain and Australia would cooperate to build their own SSN-AUKUS submarines.
