Nuclear subs and a diplomatic blowup: The US-France clash, explained – Vox

With the AUKUS pact, Australia will join six other nations the US, UK, Russia, India, France, and China in deploying nuclear submarines, assuming the deal goes forward as planned. Prior to this new alliance, the US had shared its submarine technology only with Britain.

In addition to the advantages of nuclear submarines, Australia s previous deal with France a $66 billion submarine contract, finalized in 2016, that would have provided Australia with 12 conventional, diesel-powered Barracuda submarines has been rife with difficulties.

The deal with France was only canceled on Wednesday, just hours before Morrison announced the AUKUS agreement in a teleconference with Biden and Johnson, but it had already begun to unravel falling behind schedule as costs nearly doubled when Australia approached the US about acquiring its submarine technology shortly after Biden took office earlier this year.

In June, Australian Defense Minister Scott Moriarty signaled in a Senate hearing that the original deal was proving untenable, Politico reports, and that Australia was pursuing other options should the pact fall apart.

On top of cost overruns and delays, there were other issues as well. Shortly after Australia and France reached the agreement in 2016, the French shipbuilder, then called DCNS, revealed it had been hacked and documents related to a separate Indian submarine project exposed. And while France s submarine technology conventional, diesel-powered attack vessels that could be switched to nuclear power may have made sense when Australia s relationship with China was less contentious, that relationship has soured recently due to China s aggressive foreign policy in the Pacific and elsewhere.

via www.vox.com