UK Signs $4.8Bln Deals to Develop Attack Submarines Under AUKUS Program

By Staff, Agencies

The United Kingdom signed contracts worth $4.8 billion with leading British manufacturers to develop powerful attack submarines as part of the AUKUS program with Australia and the United States, UK Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps said on Sunday.

"I can announce that we have signed contracts worth 4 billion pounds with leading British businesses to drive forward the development of the most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy," Shapps said at the 2023 Conservative Party Conference.

The minister added that the new "hunter-killer" submarines would allow the country to maintain its strategic advantage under the sea and help fund thousands of jobs in the country.

Australia, the US and the UK announced a new trilateral military partnership called AUKUS in September 2021. The first initiative announced under the AUKUS pact was the development of nuclear-powered submarine technology for the Royal Australian Navy, so the Australian government decided to abandon its agreement, estimated at $66 billion at that time, with France's Naval Group company for the construction of diesel-electric submarines.

Further, Shapps said that the United Kingdom is deploying Typhoon fighter jets in Poland to protect its NATO ally from an alleged threat from Russia.

"In response to requests from our Polish friends, RAF [Royal Air Force] Typhoons are landing in Poland as I speak to support our NATO ally amid the growing threat of Russia interference," he said at the annual Conservative party conference.