Reuters reported that Australia's purchase of US nuclear submarines is intended to deter the US Navy from China and secure bases for US nuclear submarines in Australia.
The AUKUS Security Alliance (USA, UK, Australia Security Alliance) agreed in September 2021 that the three countries of the United States, Britain and Australia agreed with Australia to build eight nuclear-powered submarines by 2040 as 'US technology British blueprints', but the US Virginia With the change to the direct introduction of class nuclear submarines, the Indo-Pacific has accelerated as a competitive area for nuclear submarines.
A US official told Reuters on Monday that Australia is expected to purchase up to five US Virginia-class nuclear submarines by 2030 under the Ochus deal.
An official from the US, UK, and Australia on the 2021 AUKUS agreement said: “The agreement will go through multiple stages, with at least one US submarine visiting Australian ports over the next few years, to be built with British design and US technology in the late 2030s. We will end up with a new kind of submarine that will become a submarine,” he told Reuters.
Regarding Australia's supply of nuclear submarines, Peter Dean, co-author of 'Australia Defense Strategy', said, "The key area in which the US has an advantage over the Chinese Navy, the world's largest, is nuclear submarines. "You have to be able to track people and react appropriately if there's a conflict with someone, and that's a really important part of your deterrence capabilities," he told Reuters.
"As Australia expands its nuclear submarine fleet and moves deeper into Australia's northern waters, it is important to have the same capabilities to deter China or, if necessary, fight it," he said.
"This is the biggest step forward in our military capabilities since the end of World War II," said Australian Defense Minister Richard Malath. will do," he said.
On the other hand, the US, which led the Australian Nuclear Submarine Agreement, is trying to expand its nuclear strategy by accelerating the increase in nuclear submarine power and securing nuclear submarine bases in the Indo-Pacific.
The U.S. Congressional Research Service announced last year the U.S. Navy's 30-year shipbuilding plan and announced that submarines would be produced at a rate of 1.76 to 2.24 per year, and nuclear attack submarines would increase from 60 to 69 by 2052.
General Dynamics is currently delivering 17 submarines by 2032.
"China is developing carrier killer ballistic missiles to target surface ships, aircraft carriers, and destroyers," said Michael Green, president of the Center for American Studies, author of "Underwater Warfare," and former member of the National Security Council. "Our dominance over China at this point is absolutely critical to deterring anyone from thinking they can use force against anyone in the region," he said. We want to fight our neighbors so we can't concentrate our forces," he said, explaining China's attack on Taiwan and the practice of neighboring countries.
"The Chinese submarines have less advanced technology and are noisier than can be detected," Bates Gill, executive director of the Asia Society Center for China Analysis, said on the nuclear submarine strategy. 's short-term solution would be a significant change," he told Reuters.
A US Department of Defense report last year identified 340 nuclear submarines (12 equipped with ballistic missiles) and 44 conventionally powered submarines for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). We can overcome it.”
Chinese diplomats called the signing of AUKUS a "violation of the Pacific Non=Nuclear Treaty," and the IAEA told Reuters that "monitoring would allow maritime nuclear propulsion."
Australian workers will come to US submarine shipyards for observation and training over the next five years in the Australian sale of nuclear submarines built in Virginia, Reuters said.
A source told Reuters, “The US is currently experiencing a labor shortage of shipyard workers needed to build submarines,” and “this training will directly help the production of US submarines.”
Until now, no nuclear submarines are possessed except for five countries recognized as weapons states, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France, as parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Australian Prime Minister announced a new base construction project in a foreign policy speech on the 7th, saying, “We will spend at least 10 billion Australian dollars ($7 billion) to build a new base to accommodate nuclear submarines in the future.”
The Australian Ministry of Defense has selected three places on the east coast as submarine bases: Newcastle and Port Kembla, New South Wales, and Brisbane, Queensland.
Australia already has a Collins-class submarine base in operation off the west coast.
Prime Minister, ahead of the general elections at the end of May, is leading the right-wing Liberal National Coalition (LNN), and the opposition Labor Party is showing a tight race in opinion polls.