US and Australian officials met on Monday, confirming that their AUKUS nuclear submarine agreement will continue. It comes as Canberra announces it would invest an additional US$1 billion to expand US submarine production capacity.
00:00A $240 billion U.S. nuclear submarine deal between Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. is moving forward, full steam ahead.
00:08That's according to officials from those nations.
00:11We're strengthening AUKUS so that it works for America, for Australia, and for the U.K.
00:16These are practical, realistic ways that our two countries can come together to ensure that we provide peace through strength for both of our nations.
00:24Australia's defense and foreign ministers met their U.S. counterparts on Monday, just days after the Pentagon finished its review of the AUKUS deal.
00:33Canberra is set to pay Washington an additional $1 billion U.S. to expand submarine production.
00:39The two sides also said that they will deepen cooperation with Japan and invest in industrial capacity, weapons development, and critical minerals.
00:47It comes just days after Australia and Japan announced a bilateral defense agreement.
00:51Australia's defense minister echoed new U.S. security guidelines, which prioritized linking alliances across the Indo-Pacific.
00:58We are living in a much more contested world where it really matters to be doubling down with friends and allies.
01:08And it is very much full steam ahead in terms of the alliance.
01:12The first of the submarines are set to be delivered in the next decade with new models to come by the 2040s.
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