A military alliance between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to contain China. Canberra nuclear submarines

Australia has no nuclear arsenal

In this regard, Pentagon sources confirmed that Australia does not intend to have a nuclear arsenal in any way. The agreement to supply a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines represents a quantum leap for Canberra’s military and defense ambitions because it is more flexible, faster, can reach the South China Sea and requires relatively little surface area. .

The summit is on the horizon

The announcement came a week before the summit at which the United States will hold, for the first time in attendance, the leaders of India, Japan and Australia, the so-called quartet formula, another alliance that irritates the Chinese who are talking about it. “Asian boy”. Australian Prime Minister Morrison said the fleet will be built entirely in Adelaide, with technology contribution from the United States and the United Kingdom.

At this point, there is still a huge problem with France that needs to be resolved. In 2016, Canberra signed an order with France’s Naval Group to supply 12 conventional submarines, an agreement that according to French media has been violated at this point. It is likely that the contract provides for sanctions in the event of termination, but the possibility of finding accommodation is not excluded, as Biden’s words seem to suggest: “There is no division of interests between the Atlantic and Pacific partners, and France is a key partner country in promoting security and prosperity in the two oceans. Indian and Pacific.

reassure partners

The new commitment of the US administration also wants to reassure its partners, especially after the tragic disengagement from Afghanistan and after the president set a political line that is more concerned with solving internal problems than with solving international crises. However, in this case, the tripartite alliance responds well to the number one priority of US foreign policy for the coming years: containment of China, increasingly threatening Taiwan and a determination to reassert full control over Hong Kong with a series of repressive laws that effectively limited autonomy,

Containment looks above all at the expansion in the South China Sea and at the fact that in a relatively few years Beijing built the world’s largest military fleet with 360 warships against 260 from the United States at the end of 2020.