Australian submarines: a victory for Boris Johnson's "Global Britain"
Boris Johnson leaving his residence at 10 Downing Street on September 10, 2021 in London.
© Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom announced Wednesday evening, September 15, to have concluded a security partnership in the Indo-Pacific zone.
This alliance, called Aukus, includes the delivery of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
Across the Channel, the British Prime Minister did not fail to welcome this trilateral partnership, his first diplomatic success since Brexit.
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With this alliance, it is the UK's post-Brexit foreign policy that is taking shape, reports our correspondent in London,
Claire Digiacomi.
In any case, the one desired by Boris Johnson, with his concept of “
Global Britain
”.
This influential Great Britain on the international scene and freed from the weight of the European institutions, which the British Prime Minister had so far failed to impose.
It is therefore done with this partnership, a diplomatic victory against the isolation of the United Kingdom after its departure from the European Union, and proof, according to Downing Street, that the country does not need Brussels.
Hundreds of jobs
In front of the deputies this afternoon, Boris Johnson did not hide his pride, by first evoking the benefits for his foreign policy.
This partnership will “
strengthen the country's position as a scientific and technological superpower
”.
Domestically, he also made an economic argument, because "
hundreds of skilled jobs will be created across the country,
" he promised.
For the Prime Minister, this alliance is only "
the beginning
" of a new defense diplomacy.
At the same time, the United Kingdom continues its quest for trade agreements across the world, particularly on the Asian and American continents.
The new trilateral alliance is giving itself, to begin with, a year and a half of consultations to find the
optimal
"
way
" to build these submarines in Adelaide, Australia's fifth largest city.
The Americans, who are in the driver's seat in this new partnership, will pilot it with the British.
Both are already well advanced in the defense industry.
On the British side, we can expect the contribution of BAE Systems, the large electronic defense group which already has shipyards in Australia.
Very advanced, the United States releases two submarines per year, manufactured by General Dynamics, via its division Electric Boat (GD / EB), and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
► To read also: The case of the Australian submarines revealing the American strategy in the Pacific
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