An international collaboration for a new strike force. The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom will team up on a new generation of submarines, dubbed SSN-AUKUS, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced on Monday.
These devices, nuclear-powered and conventionally armed, will involve “significant investments” in the three countries, he added in an interview with journalists. Nuclear-powered submarines are difficult to detect, can travel great distances for long periods of time, and can carry sophisticated cruise missiles. The objective, assured Jake Sullivan, is not “to go to war” but “to deter any conflict”.
The “treason” to France
Australia had no nuclear-powered submarines, or nuclear technology, military or civilian. The conclusion of the AUKUS alliance, with the corollary of Canberra’s cancellation of the contract for the acquisition of 12 French submarines, had given rise in 2021 to a diplomatic crisis with France, which had cried “treason”.
The affair has since settled down, by dint of intense diplomatic maneuvers, including a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the United States in early December. Joe Biden also called his French counterpart on March 7, and the two men notably, according to the White House, discussed their “cooperation” in the Indian Ocean and in Asia.
The indignation of France gave way to criticism from China, engaged with the United States in a fierce economic and strategic rivalry.