SYDNEY: Australia unveiled AU$3.9 billion ($2.8 billion) in spending on Sunday as a “down payment” on a new facility that will build nuclear submarines under the tripartite AUKUS security pact with Britain and the United States.
The AUKUS pact aims to arm Australia with a fleet of cutting-edge submarines from the United States and would provide for cooperation in developing an array of warfare technologies.
The investment in the Submarine Construction Yard at Osborne, near the southern city of Adelaide, “is critical to delivering Australia’s conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
In the long term, an estimated AU$30 billion is expected to be spent on the facility.
The submarines, the sale of which will begin in 2032, lie at the heart of Australia’s strategy of improving its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific, particularly against China.
