Ministers announce new AUKUS-related, U.K.-Australia treaty

Defense ministers from the U.K. and Australia last week said they will negotiate a new treaty related to Australian-made nuclear-powered submarines to be developed under the AUKUS agreement.

During a press conference following a trilateral AUKUS defense ministerial meeting in London, British defense secretary John Healey announced that he and Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister and minister for defense, “have agreed that negotiations will soon be underway for a new bilateral treaty to bind our AUKUS collaboration into law.”

Marles said the treaty will be related to the AUKUS elements between the U.K. and Australia “and particularly pertains to the development of the [AUKUS] type submarine in the future. And we’re really excited about the prospect of undertaking those negotiations.”

“This does not only reflect our commitment to a secure Indo-Pacific region where international rules are respected, it also sends a very strong message that our defense alliance is one that will endure for many decades to come,” Healey said.

The negotiations will follow the U.K.’s agreement “to train hundreds more Australians to operate, maintain and regulate modern nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) after the first course of 250 Australians was completed this month,” Healy said. The U.K.’s Royal Navy provided professional and general naval nuclear propulsion training for more than 250 Australian personnel in Canberra, Australia, the capital.

AUKUS is a trilateral agreement among Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. In the 2030s the U.S. plans to sell Australia three to five used and new Virginia-class submarines. Australia plans to build its own SSN-AUKUS boats the following decade.

The first SSN-AUKUS submarines will be built by the U.K. Some work is already underway. Australia will later use the same design to manufacture its own boats. ASC Pty Ltd is the Australian submarine manufacturer who will build their SSN-AUKUS boats.

A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.