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SYDNEY: Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was confident a deal for the US to sell nuclear powered submarines to Australia was on track, ahead of talks between defense and foreign ministers of the two countries on Friday.
Twenty-five US Republican lawmakers told President Joe Biden on Thursday the plan to sell three attack submarines to Australia under the so-called AUKUS partnership would “unacceptably weaken” the US fleet without a clear plan to replace them.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are in Queensland state for the annual AUSMIN dialogue, where progress on the nuclear-powered submarine deal, regional security and clean energy will be the focus.
“I am very confident,” Albanese told reporters on Friday, when asked about the Republican letter, which noted the AUKUS agreement was “vitally important” but shouldn’t weaken the US fleet.
The United States, Britain and Australia announced the three-way AUKUS defense agreement in 2021 under which Australia is to obtain nuclear submarine technology from the United States.
Albanese said he had met Republicans and Democrats on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania this month and was struck by “their unanimous support for AUKUS.”
The US is Australia’s major security ally and announced with Britain in March that the United States would sell Australia three US Virginia class nuclear powered submarines in the early 2030s, before Britain and Australia produce a new submarine class — SSN-AUKUS — the following decade.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a Sky television interview that Australia, which has agreed to invest $3 billion in US submarine facilities, understood there was “pressure on the American industrial base” but AUKUS was “on track.”
“Why this arrangement is going to be so advantageous for all three countries is because we will develop an industrial base in this country which will contribute to the net capability of Australia, the UK and the US,” he added.
China’s security ambitions in the Indo-Pacific will also be under discussion by the security allies over two days of talks.
“We’ve seen troubling (Chinese) coercion from the East China Sea to the South China Sea to right here in the Southwest Pacific, and will continue to support our allies and partners as they defend themselves from bullying behavior,” Austin said before meeting Marles on Friday.
Australia is reshaping its defense force in response to China’s military buildup, and plans to boost its long-range strike capability, domestic missile production, and interoperability with the US and other regional militaries.
Austin said deepening defense ties, including efforts to integrate Japan into joint force posture initiatives, would be discussed.
“Now’s the time to be working closely with friends, and Australia has no better friend than the United States of America,” Marles said at the start of a meeting with his US counterpart.
Australia hosts an annual rotation of US Marines in the northern city of Darwin. War games involving more than 30,000 troops from the US, Japan and 10 other countries are being held in Queensland this week.