Because on submarines, pro-US-UK Australia is making France and China angry
Australia has canceled the contract with Naval Group for the construction of 12 submarines. The Canberra government will work with the United States and the United Kingdom
Australia tears up the € 56 billion contract with the French shipbuilder Naval Group for 12 submarines.
After yesterday's rumors of The Australian Financial Review newspaper, confirmation from the Canberra government arrived today. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the abandonment of the purchase of 12 submarines from Naval Group.
At the same time, the Morrison government will instead work with the US and UK to switch to a US-made nuclear submarine.
A hard blow for the French naval giant and the Macron government . The Future Submarine Program involved the manufacture of 12 submarines (Naval Group), equipped with the weapon system (Lockheed Martin). The first submarine was supposed to enter service in 2034 and the last one in the early 2050s.
"France stabbed by its Australian and American" allies ", La Tribune commented yesterday in the wake of rumors, confirmed today.
“In addition to the value of the contract, the Future Submarine Program has signed a strategic and ambitious partnership between France and Australia in the Indo-Pacific region” notes L'Usine Nouvelle .
"The deplorable decision just announced on the program only reinforces the need to raise the issue of European strategic autonomy loud and clear" reads a joint statement by the French Foreign and Defense Ministries.
Paris Defense Minister Florence Parly did not rule out France seeking compensation from Australia.
Meanwhile, Beijing has also had its say on the collaboration between Australia, the US and the UK for nuclear submarines.
All the details.
AUSTRALIA CHANGE OF COURSE ON THE SUBMARINE OF NAVAL GROUP
Australia has canceled the Naval Group submarine contract with France.
The Navy will instead build nuclear-powered submarines using US technology due to changing strategic conditions in the region, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday.
Morrison said U.S. nuclear submarine technology was unavailable to Australia in 2016 when it signed the AU $ 56 billion deal with France to build 12 of the world's largest conventional diesel-electric submarines.
The United States had previously only shared the technology with Great Britain.
AGREEMENT WITH UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN
Additionally, President Joe Biden yesterday announced a new US security alliance with Australia and Britain that will help equip Australia with a nuclear submarine fleet.
The technology sharing and support agreement is part of a new "trilateral security partnership", dubbed AUKUS.
As part of the AUKUS alliance, nuclear-powered submarines will be built in Adelaide, leveraging the expertise and resources provided by stakeholders in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The deal will make Australia the first nuclear-free country to get nuclear-powered submarines.
CANCELED THE ORDER OF THE FUTURE SUBMARINE PROGRAM
In 2016, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that Naval Group (then known as DCNS) had beaten rival offers from Germany and Japan to build 12 new submarines for the Royal Australian Navy over the next three decades.
Naval Group was to build 12 submarines in Adelaide, one of the cornerstones of the Australian naval development program.
According to AFR, terminating the contract with the French company would cost the Australian treasury up to $ 400 million.
A TROUBLE RELATIONSHIP
However, after the order, the relations between Canberra and Naval Group have worsened in recent times to a series of disagreements related to increasing costs, to design changes, delays in the timing and involvement of local shipyards reminds Afr.
Already in February, according to AFR , Prime Minister Morrison had asked the military authorities to examine options for a "plan B" of the submarine development program. Even the Labor opposition had denounced the increasing costs of the agreement with Naval Group, asking the government to review the contract.
WHAT NAVAL GROUP DOES IN AUSTRALIA
Naval Group operates in 18 countries, delivering submarines and surface ships with its systems and services to over 50 marinas.
As La Tribune recalled, Naval Group has already created nearly 300 direct jobs in Australia and its subsidiary, Naval Group Australia, planned to double its workforce with the aim of building the hull's qualification section in 2023.
“For five years, the Naval Group teams, both in France and Australia, as well as our partners, have given their best and Naval Group has kept all its commitments,” the French company said in a statement.
"The analysis of the consequences of this Australian sovereign decision will be conducted with the Commonwealth of Australia in the coming days," Naval Group concludes in the note.
Déclaration Naval Group.
Naval Group takes acte de la décision des autorités australiennes de se doter d'une fleotte de sous-marins nucléaires en collaboration avec les Etats-Unis et le Royaume-Uni. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/NNveE7nXWD– Naval Group (@navalgroup) September 16, 2021
THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT IS "STUDYING ALL ROADS"
"We are studying all the avenues," French Defense Minister Florence Parly told French radio RFI when asked if France could seek compensation.
"France will try to ensure that any financial backlash [from the cancellation of the Australian contract] to Naval Group is limited," the minister said.
Parly did not rule out France seeking compensation from Australia.
THE BEIJING REACTION
Finally, China also intervenes in the tension between Australia, France and the US on submarine contracts after Canberra's break with Paris and the agreement with the US for nuclear submarines.
Beijing has denounced the "extremely irresponsible" sale of US nuclear submarines to Australia as part of a new partnership that also includes the UK.
"Cooperation between the US, Britain and Australia on nuclear nuclear submarines undermines regional peace and stability, intensifies the arms race and undermines international nuclear non-proliferation efforts," Chinese diplomacy spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/australia-naval-group-sottomarini-usa-cina-francia/ on Thu, 16 Sep 2021 07:04:16 +0000.