Australia officially embarked on Monday, November 22 in a much contested program to equip itself with nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new defense alliance with the United Kingdom and the United States.
Defense Minister Peter Dutton signed an agreement with British and American diplomats authorizing the exchange of
"information on naval nuclear propulsion"
between their countries.
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This is the first agreement signed and made public since the three countries announced in September their new defense alliance, called AUKUS, to deal with growing strategic tensions between the United States and China in the Pacific.
This alliance was accompanied by the cancellation by Australia of a mega contract for the purchase of twelve French submarines with conventional propulsion for a value of 90 billion Australian dollars (55 billion euros), causing a lasting quarrel between Paris and Canberra.
"Extremely irresponsible"
"The agreement will allow cooperation that will further improve our position of mutual defense
,
"
said US President Joe Biden on Friday in a statement ahead of the signing ceremony on Monday in the presence of Peter Dutton, the US charge d'affaires. Michael Goldman and British High Commissioner to Australia Victoria Treadell.
Under the AUKUS deal, Australia is to acquire eight state-of-the-art nuclear-powered submarines capable of long-range stealth missions.
It also provides for the sharing of unspecified cybernetic, artificial intelligence, quantum and underwater capabilities.
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The alliance angered China, which describes it as an
"extremely irresponsible"
threat
to the stability of the region.