US and Aukus Allies Unveil Submarine Deal to Counter China in Pacific

  • Australia will get up to five Virginia-class submarines
  • UK and Australia will eventually build a new submarine
Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak hold a press conference in San Diego on March 13.Photographer: by Leon Neal/Getty Images
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The leaders of the US, the UK and Australia unveiled an ambitious multibillion-dollar plan for a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines that will ply the Pacific in an effort to blunt China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

“Forging this partnership, we’re showing again how democracies can deliver our own security and prosperity, and not just for us but for the entire world,” President Joe Biden said as he stood in front of the USS Missouri nuclear submarine at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego.