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“We will increase our long-range strike capabilities, including Tomahawk cruise missiles to be deployed on Royal Australian Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers and joint air-to-surface missiles expanded to our Royal Australian Air Force capabilities,” said the Australian Prime Minister (PM) Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra, Thursday (16/9/2021) evening.
Also read: After AUKUS Alliance, Australia Becomes China’s Soft Target
Australia will also acquire a new nuclear submarine fleet as part of a trilateral pact with the United States and Britain.
The planned acquisition that comes as part of the pact announced in a video meeting by Morrison, his British counterpart Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden is sure to cause a stir in Beijing.
The move also drew swift opposition from France, which has negotiated a multibillion-dollar sale of conventional submarines to Australia.
Biden said the work to enable Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines would ensure they had the most modern capabilities needed to maneuver and defend against rapidly evolving threats.
Submarines, said the leaders of the three countries, would not be nuclear-armed, and would only be powered by nuclear reactors.
The three leaders did not mention China in the opening of the partnership, dubbed AUKUS. The name of the alliance is none other than the acronym of the three countries.
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