Australia and the UK look to finalize new treaty in latest effort towards establishing AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership

Australia and the United Kingdom are set to negotiate a bilateral defence treaty under the auspices of the AUKUS defence pact between the United States, UK, and Australia.

As defence ministers from the three countries meet outside the United States for the first time in London, negotiations continue on a new UK-Australia defence treaty, which UK Defence Secretary John Healey says will define the defence relationship for decades.

Under the overarching AUKUS deal signed in 2021, the three nations will collaborate on building nuclear-powered submarines for Australia with the Royal Australian Navy set to acquire the next iteration of the UK’s Astute-class submarine.

The latest treaty will also come under the AUKUS framework and will establish how the UK and Australia will cooperate together, with a focus on the delivery of the SSN-AUKUS conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.

It comes off the back of a UK-Australia Defence and Security Cooperation Agreement, signed earlier this year, which makes it easier for the armed forces of both countries to cooperate and allows UK submarine crews to visit Australia.

“As AUKUS partners, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an increasingly unstable world. This is a partnership that will boost jobs, growth and prosperity across our three nations, as well as strengthening our collective security,” Healey said.

Both countries are members of the Five Eyes group along with Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, as well as the Five Powers Defence Alliance (FPDA) with Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand.

Australia also has “enhanced opportunities partner” status at NATO, where the UK is a full member.

An Important Step: Minister

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said the new treaty would centre on industrial cooperation and technology transfer, and called it “a really important step in the league of arrangements which allow AUKUS to transpire.”

“AUKUS really centres around the build of [submarines] in Australia, but also here in the UK,” he said.

“We will establish a production line in Adelaide to build our future nuclear‑powered submarines. There is a production line here in the UK which … will build the future SSN-AUKUS submarines. We will be operating the same class of submarine.”

The first-of-its-kind treaty will likely create a significant trade boost for the United Kingdom.

It’s estimated that facilitating the build in Australia will see billions of pounds of submarine components exported from the UK through its defence industry supply chains.

The UK is spending £4 billion to progress the submarines through design, prototyping, and initial purchases, and another £3 billion for new advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Australia will contribute £2.4 billion over 10 years to boost Rolls-Royce infrastructure and share the costs of submarine design.

The three-year anniversary of the AUKUS partnership was marked this month following a breakthrough in defence trade agreed between the three member countries. The significant reduction in red tape will facilitate billions of dollars of trade between the participants.