US Expected to Gain Access to New Australian Nuclear Submarine Shipyard
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – The United States is expected to have access to a new Australian shipyard being developed to support the AUKUS security pact, australian officials said Tuesday. The facility is being built to sustain and maintain Australia’s future submarines and is a direct result of the trilateral agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The growth underscores the deepening security cooperation between the three nations as concerns grow over china’s increasing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The AUKUS pact, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, will see the US sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, while Australia and the UK will collaborate on building a new AUKUS-class submarine. This new shipyard is critical infrastructure for ensuring the long-term success of the agreement, allowing for maintenance and potentially repairs of US submarines operating in the region.
Australia’s government made an initial investment of A$127 million last year to upgrade facilities at the shipyard, which will also be used to construct new landing craft for the Australian army and general-purpose frigates for the navy. The project is expected to support around 10,000 local jobs.
“This is about being able to sustain and maintain Australia’s future submarines but it is very much a facility that is being built in the context of AUKUS,” a government official told Australian broadcasting Corporation television. “I would expect that in the future this would be available to the US.”
The declaration comes as bipartisan support for AUKUS remains strong in the US Congress, despite a recent review of the deal by Elbridge Colby, a top Pentagon policy official who has publicly questioned the pact. In July, the Republican and Democratic heads of a US congressional committee for strategic competition with China affirmed their strong support for AUKUS.
Australia,which signed a treaty with Britain in July to bolster cooperation over the next 50 years on AUKUS,has expressed confidence that the agreement will proceed as planned.
