SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Australia will purchase up to five nuclear-powered attack submarines in the next decade as part of a much-anticipated deal formally announced on March 13 by U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in California.
Under the agreement, Australia will buy three Virginia-class hunter submarines by the early 2030s, with an option to buy two more—perhaps, Los Angeles-class attack subs—as part of the trilateral security pact known as AUKUS.
The submarines will be added to Australia’s aging six-sub fleet in response to China’s increasingly aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific, especially in the South China Sea where it is building military bases on artificial islands abreast shipping lanes and air trade routes….