UK and Australia aim to boost defence and growth at summit in London
The Government is to set out a range of initiatives aimed at boosting security at home and around the world.
Tackling security challenges is set to be a key issue in talks held between the UK and Australia at a summit in London.
The deployment of the UK Carrier Group to Australia in 2025, extended Australian support for training Ukrainian armed forces and the new submarine programme office in Bristol are expected to be among the announcements from the annual ministerial meeting on Monday.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey will speak to Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong and deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles on reinforcing economic and defence partnerships and building growth.
Mr Lammy said the Government wants to “go further to deepen our cooperation with countries like Australia to boost economic growth, build supply chain resilience and transition to net zero”.
He added: “Together, we are modernising our partnership, working to tackle the biggest challenges around the world and furthering our co-operation on defence, security and foreign policy matters.”
Aukus is the name of the trilateral agreement between Australia, the UK and the US to create a joint nuclear submarine project.
It is believed it could lead to 7,000 additional British jobs and at its peak and see more than 21,000 people working on the SSN-AUKUS programmes in the UK supply chain.
A new office in Bristol is to be used to help coordinate and integrate the UK and Australian Aukus programmes and supply chains.
The UK and Australia are also trying to develop underwater capability and share information.
Australia is to equip its Hunter Class frigates with Thales’s 2087 sonar which could contribute around £45 million to the UK economy, according to the Foreign Office.
It is also expected that the UK Carrier Strike Group will sail to Australia in 2025.
HMS Prince of Wales would become the first Queen Elizabeth class carrier to make a port visit to Australia and she would also take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre, an exercise involving 19 nations.
Mr Healey said that in the face of increasing global threats the announcements are set to “demonstrate how our two nations, working in lockstep, can help drive jobs and growth while reinforcing our collective security”.
He said he also believes that supporting Ukraine, the Aukus partnership and high-end military exercises can help to prove “the value of cooperation in delivering security and prosperity in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific”.
