Britain and Australia have announced plans to sign an agreement for collaboration on building nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. Furthermore, both nations expressed their support for the recent review by the Trump administration regarding the United States’ role in the trilateral defense agreement.
On Friday, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with their Australian counterparts, Richard Marles and Penny Wong, in Sydney during an annual bilateral meeting.
Marles indicated that he and Wallace will sign a 50-year agreement on Saturday to strengthen cooperation in developing an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.
He noted, “This is an agreement as significant as those signed between our countries since the formation of the Australian government,” referring to the unification of several British colonies into one entity in 1901.
The trilateral alliance was announced in 2021 to counter the growing Chinese military influence in the Asia-Pacific region. Australia is set to acquire at least eight submarines, which will include between three to five used Virginia-class submarines from the United States.