CANBERRA -- The Australian government signed an agreement with British and American diplomats regarding the exchange of sensitive and classified naval nuclear propulsion information. The agreement - called Exchange of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information Agreement - opens the way for Australia to pursue its planned objective of acquiring conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines.

The agreement falls under the larger trilateral security pact referred to as AUKUS that was announced earlier on September 16, 2021. The larger AUKUS treaty covers diplomatic, security and defense cooperation in the contested South China Sea, as well as joint work on cyber-security, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and undersea capabilities.

The AUKUS treaty caught the world by surprise and erupted in diplomatic fallout between France and the three so-called Anglo-Saxon nations due in part to Australia's decision to scrap its planned order of12 French-designed conventional submarines. The secrecy behind the arrangement and the loss of French industrial workshare, export profit and national face set off a month-long stretch of diplomatic outbursts and U.S. efforts to soothe feelings in Paris.

The defense acquisition project at the center of the AUKUS pact - the Royal Australian Navy's SEA 1000 Future Submarine requirement to replace its existing fleet of Swedish-designed Collins-class conventional subs - is at the heart of the latest diplomatic agreement. According to Australia's Minister for Defence Peter Dutton the pact enables further advance consultations by permitting the U.K. and U.S. to exchange naval nuclear propulsion information with a third country for the first time.

This, in turn, will support Australia's effort to compete 18 months of intensive and comprehensive examination of the requirements connected with the delivery of nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement creates an opening for Australian personnel - referred to back in September by the Australian government as the Future Nuclear Submarine Task Force - to observe and learn from their British and American counterparts how to safely and effectively build, operate and support nuclear-powered submarines.

Once a determination is made how best to move forward and a contract is in place production work will be undertaken at the ASC Osborne shipyard in South Australia. The likelihood is that the first new submarine will not be delivered until the early 2040s, roughly 5-10 years behind the preceding timeline laid out for the French Shortfin Barracuda submarine solution.

Source: Australia Minister of Defense
Associated URL: https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/peter-dutton/media-releases/australia-signs-exchange-naval-nuclear-propulsion-information
Author: D. Darling, Asia Analyst