Technically, AUKUS is a technology-sharing agreement, a series of defence projects between the allies rather than a new military alliance itself. “It’s an unusual name, AUKUS, but it’s a powerful entity,” said US President Joe Biden as he stood with Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego, the home of the US Pacific fleet, to announce the results of 18 months of negotiations since the pact was signed. Credit: Artwork Stephen Kiprillis, photography Alex Ellinghausen What is AUKUS again, and what’s it about?ĪUKUS stands for Australia, the UK and the US. Joe Biden, Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak. So, what are we buying? How will it all work? And what’s the diplomatic response? Still, some experts see the big spend as a big gamble. But they will elevate our military power on the world stage – allowing our subs to reach as far into the Indo-Pacific as the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Of course, Australia’s nuclear-powered subs won’t be carrying any nuclear weapons. And it’s part of a high-stakes plan to help the US counter Chinese aggression in the Asia-Pacific that will soon mean Australia regularly hosts American and British nuclear subs in its waters. It’s Australia’s biggest jump forward in military capability since the end of World War II, the government says, and is expected to cost up to $368 billion over the next 30 years. Under the AUKUS pact sealed in 2021 with the US and the UK, Australia will acquire its own nuclear-powered fleet – first by buying between three and five American Virginia-class attack subs in the 2030s, and then by building eight new ships in Adelaide using a hybrid of UK and US technology that will come online in the 2040s. This technology is one of the United States’ most closely guarded secrets, shared with just one other nation, Britain (during the Cold War), and still considered a class above China’s rapidly growing submarine fleet. Floating behind, just in frame, was the reason: a multibillion-dollar US nuclear submarine. From a naval base in San Diego, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the details of Australia’s biggest-ever defence investment.
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