Australia spends heavily on defense, heading towards the era of nuclear submarines AUKUS

Australia has announced a multi-billion dollar investment plan over the next 20 years to expand the Henderson shipyard in the country's west.

Henderson Shipyard will be built into a maintenance centre for Australia's nuclear submarines. (Source: ABC)

This project aims to turn Henderson into a center for manufacturing and maintaining the nuclear submarine fleet within the framework of the AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) alliance.

According to Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, in the first three years, the government will invest 127 million AUD (equivalent to 85 million USD) to upgrade facilities at the Henderson shipyard near Perth city.

Mr Marles stressed that converting the Henderson plant into a defence precinct was expected to support naval shipbuilding activities in Western Australia and the country's nuclear-powered submarine roadmap.

In addition to serving the nuclear submarine project, the facility will also undertake the construction of amphibious ships for the army and new multi-purpose frigates for the Australian navy.

The Henderson shipyard is expected to be the foundation for Canberra's multi-billion dollar investment in defence capabilities over the next 20 years, as well as creating around 10,000 local jobs.

The AUKUS defense pact was signed in 2021 between Australia, the UK and the US. Under the agreement, Australia will purchase five nuclear-powered submarines from the US in the early 2030s. The three countries will then jointly build and operate a new class of submarines called the SSN-AUKUS.

This is the first time since the 1950s that the US has shared nuclear propulsion technology with a country other than the UK. However, these submarines will not be equipped with nuclear weapons.

According to Australian government estimates, by 2055, the total cost of the AUKUS project could reach about 368 billion AUD (equivalent to 245.8 billion USD).

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/australia-manh-tay-chi-cho-quoc-phong-huong-toi-ky-nguyen-tau-ngam-hat-nhan-aukus-290279.html