The United Kingdom and Australia announced on Friday that they will sign a cooperation treaty to build Australian nuclear-powered submarines and welcomed a review by US President Donald Trump’s administration into Washington’s role in the trilateral defence deal.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey and Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with their Australian counterparts Richard Marles and Penny Wong in Sydney for an annual meeting.
Marles said he and Healey will sign a 50-year treaty on Saturday that will underpin bilateral cooperation on building an Australian fleet of submarines powered by US nuclear technology.
"It is as significant a treaty as has been signed between our two countries since federation," Marles said, referring to the unification of several British colonies to form the Australian government in 1901.
The three-way alliance was announced in 2021 to contend with growing Chinese military might in the Asia-Pacific region.
It would deliver Australia at least eight submarines including three to five second-hand US Virginia-class submarines.
Britain and Australia would cooperate to build their own SSN-AUKUS submarines.
US reviewing AUKUS submarine deal
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is reviewing the AUKUS pact, which the previous administration entered into under Joe Biden.
There are concerns that the US may not provide Australia with its first Virginia-class submarine by the early 2030s as planned, due to domestic submarine construction being behind schedule.
Marles and Healey declined to speculate on whether Britain and Australia would continue to jointly build submarines if the US pulled out, when questioned at a press conference.
"Australia and the UK welcome the review because we see this as a chance for a new administration to renew their commitment to AUKUS. And that’s what we expect," Healey said.
"Any sort of hypotheticals that you suggest simply aren’t part of the picture," Healey added, referring to the prospect of Britain and Australia proceeding without US involvement.
The Australian government confirmed this week it had paid the US a second $500 million (€426 million) instalment on the AUKUS deal. The first $500 million was paid in February.
The submarines are expected to cost Australia up to $245 billion (€208 billion).
Brits join Australian war games
The meeting comes as 3,000 British military personnel take part in the largest military exercise ever conducted in Australia.
More than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations are taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre, which began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the US and Australia.
Marles and Healey will inspect the British aircraft HMS Prince of Wales at the northern port of Darwin on Sunday.
Lammy said the carrier’s arrival in Darwin was meant to send a clear signal to the world.
"With our carrier strike group docking in Darwin, I think we're sending a clear signal, a signal of the UK's commitment to this region of the world. Our determination to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open and that we stand together," he said.
