SYDNEY: Australia stated on Wednesday (Oct 16) it will make investments billions of {dollars} over the subsequent 20 years to increase a shipyard in Western Australia that might turn into the upkeep hub for its nuclear-powered AUKUS submarine fleet.
The federal government will make an preliminary funding of A$127 million (US$85 million) over three years to improve amenities on the Henderson shipyard close to Perth, Defence Minister Richard Marles stated in an announcement.
“The Defence Precinct at Henderson will optimise Australia’s shipbuilding and sustainment business whereas supporting steady naval shipbuilding in Western Australia and Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine pathway,” Marles stated.
The power can even construct the brand new touchdown craft for the Australian military and the brand new general-purpose frigates for the navy, he stated.
The shipyard “will underpin tens of billions of {dollars} of funding in defence capabilities” over the subsequent 20 years and create about 10,000 native jobs, Marles stated.
The AUKUS defence pact signed in 2021 between Australia, Britain and the US will see Australia purchase as much as 5 nuclear-powered submarines from Washington within the early 2030s earlier than collectively constructing and working a brand new class, SSN-AUKUS, with Britain, roughly a decade later.
AUKUS would be the first time Washington has shared nuclear-propulsion know-how because it did so with Britain within the Nineteen Fifties although the submarines wouldn’t be nuclear armed. The deal is anticipated to value Australia as much as about A$368 billion (US$245.8 billion) by 2055, in keeping with authorities estimates.
