By David Crowe

Copyright brisbanetimes

Another plan under the pact is for the US to share nuclear-propulsion technology so the UK and Australia can work together on a new AUKUS-class submarine to arrive from the early 2040s.

“AUKUS is safe,” one official from a member country told Nikkei Asia.

It added that industrial delays might affect the delivery of the submarines but that no political decision had been made to alter the schedule.

This suggests the pact will proceed with the sale of three to five Virginia-class submarines to Australia from 2032. These vessels will be “secondhand” from the US Navy and will be nuclear-powered but not armed with nuclear weapons.