The Biden administration is exploring an arrangement to expedite Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines to respond to China’s growing military might by producing the first few subs in the U.S., Western officials said Friday.
The idea is to provide Australia with an initial nuclear-powered fleet by the mid-2030s, while a longer-term effort is under way to give Australia the capability to produce nuclear-power submarines at home.
The stopgap arrangement has been discussed among senior officials from the U.S., Australia and Britain as a way to keep the initiative on track. It is one of several ideas that has been weighed to enable Australia to more quickly field a nuclear-powered fleet, and has yet to be formally approved.
The initiative has its challenges. To carry it out, billions of dollars would need to be spent to expand U.S. submarine-production capacity and Australia would be expected to contribute to this expansion.
A final decision on how to proceed is expected in March, when the U.S., U.K. and Australia have said they would complete a joint study of how to move forward.
“‘We are steadfast in our commitment to Australia acquiring this capability at the earliest possible date’”
The three countries said a year ago that they were establishing a new security partnership in the Indo-Pacific that would enable Australia to build its first nuclear-powered subs.
Nuclear-powered submarines are far more capable than their conventional counterparts because they can operate stealthily underwater for great distances and long periods. The nuclear-powered subs for Australia would only carry conventional weapons.
The alliance is called AUKUS, an acronym for Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. In addition to collaboration on nuclear-submarine technology, the countries also intend to cooperate on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, hypersonic missiles and undersea technologies, among other areas.
The three countries reaffirmed the arrangement in a joint statement issued Friday….
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