US will have access to new AUKUS nuclear submarine shipyard, Australia says

FILE- Shipyard workers at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton Conn prepare a submarine for float-off July AP Photo Jessica Hill File AP Jessica Hill FILE- Shipyard workers at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton Conn prepare a submarine for float-off July AP Photo Jessica Hill File AP Jessica Hill Sydney Reuters Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles declared on Sunday that the United States would be able to use planned defense facilities in Western Australia to help deliver submarines under the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal The cabinet on Saturday mentioned it would spend A billion billion to upgrade facilities at the Henderson shipyard near Perth as part of a -year plan to transform it into the maintenance hub for its AUKUS submarine fleet The AUKUS pact agreed upon by Australia Britain and the US in aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the next decade to counter China s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region President Donald Trump s administration is undertaking a formal review of the pact When required on Sunday if the US would be able to use dry docks at the facility for its nuclear-powered submarines Marles reported this is an AUKUS facility and so I would expect so This is about being able to sustain and maintain Australia s future submarines but it is very much a facility that is being built in the context of AUKUS he recounted Australian Broadcasting Corporation television I would expect that in the future this would be available to the US The center-left Labor establishment made an initial commitment of A million last year to upgrade facilities at the shipyard which will also build the new landing craft for the Australian army and the new general-purpose frigates for the navy supporting around local jobs Under AUKUS worth hundreds of billions of dollars Washington will sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia while Britain and Australia will later build a new AUKUS-class submarine The Republican and Democratic heads of a US congressional committee for strategic competition with China in July stressed their strong backing for AUKUS amid the review of the deal by Elbridge Colby a top Pentagon approach official and populace critic of the pact Australia which the same month signed a treaty with Britain to bolster cooperation over the next years on AUKUS has maintained it is confident the pact will proceed The-CNN-Wire Cable News Setup Inc a Warner Bros Discovery Company All rights reserved Source