"Anti-China strategy": how the US, UK and Australia are trying to strengthen the defense partnership AUKUS

The United States and the United Kingdom are working to ensure that Australia obtains nuclear submarine technology as soon as possible through the AUKUS security partnership.

This is stated in a statement by the leaders of the three countries, published on the website of the Australian Prime Minister.

“Over the past 12 months, we have made significant progress on the acquisition of conventional and nuclear-powered submarines by Australia.

We are firmly committed to our commitment to Australia acquiring this capability as soon as possible... The United States and the United Kingdom are fully committed to establishing an approach to providing Australia with nuclear propulsion technology for the Navy,” the statement said.

In addition, the document emphasizes that within the framework of AUKUS, the parties have taken "significant steps" in cooperation in the field of "advanced capabilities".

We are talking about contacts regarding initiatives related to the development of hypersonic weapons and means against them, electronic warfare, cyberspace, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and “additional underwater means”.

“In order to support further progress on these initiatives, we continue to advocate for greater information and technology sharing, promote deeper integration of our industrial bases and supply chains, and increase the pace of our defense innovation initiatives.

As our work progresses within these and other critical defense and security assets, we will seek opportunities to engage our allies and close partners in it, ”the joint statement says.

According to the authors of the document, the need for the AUKUS partnership is “as clear now as it was a year ago” when it was created.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Liz Truss and US President Joe Biden agreed to expand the defense alliance, including through the AUKUS partnership.

This is stated in a press release posted on the website of the British government.

• British Prime Minister Liz Truss and US President Joe Biden

• AP

• © Evan Vucci

“They (US and UK leaders. -

) agreed that partnership between countries, backed by common values, is key in protecting and promoting freedom and democracy in the world.

They agreed to build on these ties, including through strengthening our close defense alliance through NATO and AUKUS.

"A Dangerous Regional Trend"

Recall that in mid-August, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, drew attention to the danger of the AUKUS partnership.

According to him, plans to expand this union and connect new regional partners to it are no longer hidden.

“Another dangerous regional trend is the focus of AUKUS on the development of a nuclear submarine fleet in Australia.

The implementation of this plan will have a complex negative impact on global and regional security, will create conditions for undermining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," Shoigu said.

He explained that "in a global dimension" the emergence of the Australian nuclear fleet will give other countries an excuse to start developing similar weapons.

"Pandora's box will be opened, the global nuclear arms race will resume," the Russian Defense Minister stressed.

In addition, according to Shoigu, it is possible that NATO's developments in the issue of joint nuclear training will be transferred to this region, and AUKUS may develop into a military-political union.

“Block-free, equal interaction in the region (Asia-Pacific.

) is an achievement that should not be lost due to phobias implanted from outside and attempts to counter the multipolar world,” said the head of the Russian Defense Ministry.

In turn, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on August 31 in an interview with ABC Radio National that the three countries included in AUKUS, as part of this partnership, should strengthen their capabilities as soon as possible and receive the most modern defense capabilities.

“Our task through AUKUS is to engage our best scientists, build on the basis of these three countries, if you like, an ecosystem, a unified ecosystem, so that we can improve our potential in the shortest possible time, get the most modern defense capabilities for these countries, including , of course, in the field of hypersonic weapons and protection against it, which is receiving a lot of attention as part of the work that AUKUS is currently doing, ”said Marles.

“There is no chance to win the confrontation with Beijing”

As military expert Alexei Leonkov noted in an interview with RT, Washington, London and Canberra are jointly developing hypersonic weapons, since the United States cannot cope with this on its own.

“The fact is that the US hypersonic programs are stalling, despite all their tectonic efforts and a huge injection of money.

Now the White House has decided that bringing together the most promising developments from the three countries will speed up this process.

How the roles are distributed between the parties, of course, is not disclosed, but it is obvious that the Americans will deal with the hypersonic engine itself, and the UK and Australia will deal with various issues of navigation and control at hypersonic speeds, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.

• US President Joe Biden at the announcement of the AUKUS partnership

• AP

• © Andrew Harnik

According to Leonkov, such a pooling of efforts suggests that the United States has set itself an ambitious task in a short time "to solve the issue of hypersound, which they do not yet possess."

“Washington’s partners hope to get their share of hypersonic weapons,” the expert added.

In addition, all three countries individually are not able to catch up or overtake the developments that are being carried out in China and Russia in other areas in the military-technical sphere, Leonkov believes.

“Therefore, Washington, London and Canberra decided to work together not only on hypersonic, but also on a number of other weapons, in particular, electronic warfare systems.

The parties intend to jointly work out many promising types of weapons that should be controlled by artificial intelligence, ”the analyst explained.

At the same time, according to Leonkov, the activity of Washington, London and Canberra within the framework of AUKUS, as well as plans to increase the submarine fleet of a US ally, is a direct challenge to China.

“China has its own progressive fleet, but is forced to continue modernization due to such hostile actions of the Anglo-Saxons.

Beijing will also certainly increase the number of means capable of searching for and destroying enemy submarines, ”he is sure.

A similar opinion is shared by military expert Ivan Konovalov.

According to him, AUKUS was created to promote American interests in the Asia-Pacific region and counter China.

“In the end, Australia will receive multi-purpose nuclear submarines - this is a continuation of the general policy, which is aimed at increasing pressure on the PRC.

Along with the Taiwan issue, which the United States is using in an attempt to aggravate the situation in the region as much as possible, Washington is increasingly involving Australia and the UK in its anti-China strategy, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

However, despite the desire of the United States, Great Britain and Australia to expand the network of their allies in the Asia-Pacific region, such a plan is doomed to failure, Konovalov believes.

“They will not be able to create an analogue of NATO in the Asia-Pacific region.

The list of their close allies in the region is very small.

They are trying their best to include India on this list, using the contradictions that it has with China, but they are not succeeding.

India has its own independent politics, and very long-standing ties with Russia.

On the US side are only Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

The rest of the countries in the region are not ready to go in the wake of Washington, ”the expert believes.

According to Konovalov, partnership with Australia within the framework of AUKUS is necessary for the United States to create an "unsinkable aircraft carrier in the form of the Australian continent."

“However, the Americans are wrong to think that they have leverage on China - Beijing is successfully creating effective instruments of confrontation.

In addition, China is a better long-term player than the US.

Washington has no chance to win the confrontation with Beijing, which, moreover, is increasing cooperation with Russia, ”the analyst concluded.