13.03.2023
The AUKUS project between the United States, Britain and Australia aims to strengthen military cooperation among the three countries in the Indo-Pacific region. High-level U.S. military officials believe that in the long run, Australia will become the most important U.S. military base near China.
(Voice of Deutsche Welle Chinese Network) On Monday (March 13), the leaders of the United States, Britain, and Australia met as planned on an American submarine in San Diego, California, and announced the details of the submarine project known as AUKUS. When this submarine project, the most expensive in the history of modern defense, was announced in September 2021, it caused dissatisfaction in France. Prior to this, France and Australia signed an agreement worth up to 66 billion euros on submarine upgrades. Soup immediately.
According to a report by the German newspaper Handelsblatt, in the first phase of AUKUS, Australia will purchase three Virginia-class submarines from the United States that can carry 132 sailors, and will purchase two more if necessary. Each submarine is priced at about $3 billion and will be delivered in 2032. Australian submariners are currently being trained in the United States. In the second phase, the United Kingdom is responsible for designing the SSN submarine that incorporates a large number of American technologies and will be delivered in 2040. In the third stage, Australia will manufacture SSN submarines domestically. According to reports, the submarine is propelled by nuclear power, but is not equipped with nuclear weapons. “Business Daily” pointed out that the transfer of nuclear power system technology to Australia still needs the approval of the US Congress and the British Parliament.
United States: AUKUS constitutes a submarine “port”
Reuters commented that China opposes the transfer of nuclear technology to Australia, saying that AUKUS is a product of the Cold War mentality. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference last Thursday (March 9), “The cooperation among the three countries poses a serious risk of nuclear proliferation, impacts the international nuclear non-proliferation system, stimulates an arms race, and undermines peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Widespread doubts and opposition from countries in the region and the international community”.
International public opinion agrees that the purpose of AUKUS is to upgrade Australian submarines and equip them with nuclear power to counter China’s growing military strength and check and balance Beijing’s pressure on Taiwan. U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro told “Strategic News” that in the long run, Australia will become the most important base for the U.S. near China, and AUKUS constitutes a “port” for submarines, “from here the U.S. Navy will be able to monitor the entire A complete picture of underwater activities in the Asia-Pacific region”.
According to Foreign Policy magazine, China currently has 79 submarines, the most in the world. Australia has no nuclear-powered submarines so far, and AUKUS will change this situation. The advantage of nuclear power is that submarines can stay underwater for almost any length of time, surfacing for new food. Australia is getting new submarines that can fire cruise missiles.
The French-Australian submarine cooperation failed, leaving only this memory
Australia to get part of submarine manufacturing capability
On Sunday (March 12), the Australian Prime Minister met with British Prime Minister Sunak and told reporters that he had informed his Asian neighbors about the AUKUS project, “I have discussed this matter with leaders of other countries in the region and explained our position. It worked out well, and the other party understood why we did it.”
When AUKUS was established in 2021, the United States and the United Kingdom announced that they would share nuclear submarine technology with Australia, which shocked many Southeast Asian countries. Gordon Flake, executive director of the U.S. Asia Center, a Perth-based think tank, said it was right for the Australian government to take the initiative to explain to neighboring countries. difference. Those worries are now gone.”
At home, Australian Prime Minister Albanese is under intense pressure, but he wants to be able to tell the public that the country has the financial capacity to complete the most expensive project in history. Albanese said that the project is related to employment, including manufacturing, and Western Australia in particular will be the biggest beneficiary of the project. The reason is that Australia only buys the first batch of submarines from the United States. In the later stage of AUKUS, it will produce a British submarine Responsible for the design of the cooperative submarine project. Local media reported on Monday (March 13) that according to the Australian government’s model estimation, in the next 30 years, the cooperative project will create 20,000 jobs, of which 8,500 jobs will come from the submarine manufacturing field.
However, Stephan Frühlin, director of the Center for Strategic and Defense Studies at the Australian National University, said that most of Australia’s existing Collins-class submarines are “Made in Australia”, but this cannot be done with AUKUS nuclear submarines, “a large part will be produced abroad”.
(comprehensive report)
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