TSAMTO, June 29. According to the statement of the Australian Minister of Defense Richard Marles, the new Australian government has confirmed that by March 2023 it must approve a program for the creation of a fleet of submarines with the United Kingdom and the United States.
As RIA Novosti notes, in May in Australia, the Labor party led by the current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won the election, supporting the course of the former government of Scott Morrison on the development of a fleet of nuclear submarines within the framework of the AUKUS alliance. The specifics were supposed to be outlined by March next year.
According to R. Marles, by that time it will be clearer when Australia receives nuclear submarines, what their potential will be, how to solve the problem with personnel.
"When we came to power, there was a process of determining what exactly would be the next step, what future submarines would be. I am sure that we will have an answer within the established framework," the minister said.
As RIA Novosti reminds, in mid-September 2021, Australia signed a deal with the United Kingdom and the United States in the field of defense and security under the new AUKUS partnership and announced its withdrawal from the agreement with the French company Naval Group for the supply of 12 submarines worth 56 billion. euro.
The new Prime Minister E. Albanese expressed confidence that he would be able to normalize relations with France, which were shaken after the rejection of French submarines. He promised that France would be compensated in the amount of 555 million euros for the termination of the contract.