MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Will Australia's Navy have nuclear submarines?

Western powers are upping their military deployments given China's growing presence in the Indo-Pacific

Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom and Anthony Albanese of Australia are to discuss Monday with US President Joseph Biden the so-called AUKUS defense pact in San Diego, California, which could culminate the delivery of nuclear submarines to the Royal Australian Navy. Britain, the US, and Australia announced the AUKUS plan in 2021 to counter China's growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific.

Regarding AUKUS, Sunak said that “in turbulent times, the UK's global alliances are our greatest source of strength and security.” According to the BBC, Sunak will also bring forward a new foreign defense policy strategy, updated after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which will include containment plans against Chinese expansion in the Indo-Pacific. “I am traveling to the United States to launch the next stage of the AUKUS nuclear submarine program, a project that binds ties with our closest allies and delivers security, new technologies, and economic advantages within our borders,” Sunak said in his departure statement.

Sunak also discussed the situation Sunday in a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, to whom he reaffirmed his country's intention to remain “one of NATO's main contributors to collective Euro-Atlantic security.” Sunak and Stoltenberg agreed to “continue to work together in the run-up to the NATO Leaders' Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, this June to ensure that the Alliance addresses the threat on Europe's eastern flank and is ready for the conflicts of the future.”

Britain is also expected to publish on Monday an update to its security, defense, and foreign policy guidelines known as the Integrated Review.

Meanwhile, Britain's Dreadnought ballistic missile submarine program has been reported to be proceeding according to plan, with the HMS Dreadnought expected to enter service in the early 2030s.

All 12 missile tubes for Dreadnought have been successfully delivered to the BAE Systems Barrow shipyard, and they have now been integrated with the relevant parts of the pressure hull to form the missile compartment unit, a significant milestone in the program’s delivery. The Ministry of Defense is working closely with United States associates to ensure timely missile tube deliveries for the remaining submarines.

In other British defense news, the United Kingdom and France are to coordinate aircraft carrier deployments, it was reported last week.

Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said: “As our leaders meet in Paris, the British and French Armed Forces are working together in response to Russian aggression in Europe, and to protect our shared values and interests across the globe. Now we will deepen our cooperation be it supporting Ukraine today or meeting the challenges of tomorrow, from security in the Arctic to carrier deployments in the Pacific.

We will also pursue a host of joint endeavors from intelligence sharing to complex weapon development. This reflects the mutual respect and confidence that exists between us, our shared technological ambitions, our unwavering commitment to NATO, and our recognition that the security of Europe and the Atlantic is tied to that of the wider world.”

“This will mean routinely providing support for each other’s task groups, cooperating in exercises to prepare our carriers for warfighting, and explore opportunities for the United Kingdom and France to demonstrate the sequencing of more persistent European carrier strike group presence in the Indo-Pacific.

The UK and France also agreed to work to ensure interoperability of weapons and platforms across Europe and NATO, including advance landmark projects to develop their future complex weapons systems, such as the Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) program.