welcome
Telegraph

Telegraph

US Politics

US Politics

Nato is in tatters – Britain’s security pact with Australia and the US could be next

Telegraph
Summary
Nutrition label

71% Informative

Aukus is the acronym for the trilateral security partnership between Australia , the UK and the US .

It involves the US and UK sharing perhaps the most closely guarded secret of the transatlantic alliance: how to build, operate and maintain a fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines.

The deal was meant to demonstrate Washington ’s rock-solid support for Canberra .

But there are now reasons to think that the deal is not yet as solid as it sounds.

The UK ’s involvement, secured by Boris Johnson , is regarded as a diplomatic triumph with big domestic benefits.

It will beef up the pipeline of defence work for companies including BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce .

BAE is currently finishing the remaining Astute -class programme in Barrow -on-Furness.

There are “live discussions’ about whether Britain should lead from the front and trumpet the agreement’s value.

The Ministry of Defence says the Royal Navy has already begun providing training to Australian submariners.

But Gaston argues the Government will have to “sharpen its approach” and “show [the UK ] can really deliver value”.