The US, UK and Australia have revealed details of a plan to create a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines aimed at limiting China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Russia and China have expressed opposition.
According to the military alliance between the three countries (Aucus) Australia will get its first nuclear-powered submarines, at least three, from the US.
American president Joe Biden said that the purpose of the agreement is to strengthen peace in the region. He emphasized that there will be submarines “nuclear powered, not armed with nuclear weapons”.
With the British and Australian prime ministers To Rishi Sunak and to Anthony Albanes it’s Biden in San Diego, California, said the deal would not jeopardize Australia’s commitment to remain a nuclear-weapon-free state.
Australia will became only the second country after the UK to receive America’s elite nuclear-powered technology, the BBC reports.
Such propulsion allows the submarines to operate longer and travel faster than Australia’s existing diesel-powered submarines. Australia will be at it became capable of long-range attacks.
Australian sailors will begin training in the use of nuclear-powered submarines at American and British bases this year.
Starting in 2027, the US and the UK will station a smaller number of nuclear-powered submarines in Perth, Australia. In the early 1930s, Australia will purchase three American Virginia-class submarines, with an option to purchase two more.
They should design and build according to this completely a new nuclear-powered submarine for the British and Australian navies.
Biden said all three countries are committed to ensuring that there is an Indo-Pacific region remained free and open. According to him, democratic countries provide security and prosperity “not only to myself, but to the whole world”.
The plan will cost Australia about US$245 billion over the next 30 years. It is the largest investment in the Australian military. Prime Minister Albanese said the construction of submarines in Australian shipyards would create thousands of jobs.
At the same time, Australia is planning to establish another military base for nuclear-powered submarines on its east coast. He already has one on the west coast.
British Prime Minister Sunak, however, said that challenges to global stability are emerging Aukusa even bigger, citing Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Sunak also announced an increase in his country’s military spending by almost six billion dollars over the next two years.
China: The deal harms peace
While members Aukusa they talk about strengthening peace in the regionbut China warns that the new agreement on nuclear submarines “harms peace and stability”.
China’s foreign ministry reiterated last week that the alliance could Aucus fueled a new arms race.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Venbin said the deal poses a serious risk of nuclear proliferation and violates the intent and objectives of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
“The latest joint statement by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia shows that these three countries, due to their geopolitical interests, are completely ignoring the concerns of the international community and are increasingly treading the path of error and danger,” Wang said.
Lavrov: The West encourages confrontation
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meanwhile, accused the West of fueling a long-standing confrontation in the Asia-Pacific the regionreports the French news agency AFP.
“The Anglo-Saxon world by forming structures such as Aucusand with the expansion of NATO’s military infrastructure into Asia, it is seriously betting on a long-term confrontation” in the regionLavrov said.
Warnings about exploiting an exception
The plan Aukusa on nuclear-powered submarines is the first instance of exploiting a loophole in the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to transfer fissile nuclear material and nuclear technology from a nuclear-weapon state to a non-nuclear-weapon state.
This is Article 14, which allows the use of fissile material in non-explosive military purposes, such as nuclear propulsion, exempt from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections and controls.
Experts worry that using this exemption could set a precedent for other countries to hide highly enriched uranium or plutonium, the core of nuclear weapons, from international scrutiny in this way, the Guardian reports.
Source: Rtvslo
