The Australian Prime Minister on the withdrawal of the contract for submarines with France was advised by the ex-Minister of the US Navy: new details of the military alliance AUKUS
New details of the formation of a military alliance between Australia, Great Britain and the United States, designated AUKUS, emerge. Recall that during the formation of this union, the Australians refused from the contract previously signed with France. The contract involved the construction of submarines by the French for the Australian Navy. The initial amount of the contract was about 40 billion dollars, then it grew to 60 billion. Now the US will build submarines for Australia, and not just submarines, but nuclear submarines.
Daniel Hirst's material on this topic was published in the British press. The observer reports that earlier the Australian government signed an agreement with the American professor Donald Winter, who was supposed to advise Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the issue of acquiring submarines. For consultations, Winter was paid from the Australian treasury $ 6 a day. At the same time, the consultation period was supposed to be three years.
It turns out that it was the specified professor who had to explain to the head of the Australian Cabinet of Ministers the position that the deal with the French side "has no prospects." I managed it faster than in three years ... I explained it. But the contract with him remained in effect. In this regard, Professor Donald Winter is now being transferred to another "front of work". This work consists in mediating functions between the Australian government and officials in the United States on the start of the implementation of the contract for the construction of nuclear submarines. Why Australian officials cannot discuss the matter directly with United States officials remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, Daniel Hirst reports that Australia has embarked on an "18-month analysis of how the US and Britain will help it acquire the nuclear submarine." But theoretically there is one problem. Australia has a law on foreign agents, which, to a certain extent, prevents the attraction of foreign persons for a detailed discussion of the parameters of contracts in the military sphere. However, in Canberra, an exception is made for Professor Winter, whom she has now, as it were, delegated to communicate with the American side.
Winter himself says that he will need to coordinate his actions with the US Department of Defense, with a number of US military departments.
It is important to note who this Professor Donald Winter is. From 2006-2009, he served as Secretary of the US Navy. As it turns out, after that he already participated in the so-called supervision program for the study of the possibilities for the implementation of the program for the construction of nuclear submarines for Australia. The problem was that there was no full-fledged military alliance between the United States and Australia. And now this union exists - AUKUS.
The Australian media note that, based on these data, it can be concluded that Australia has long considered the possibility of acquiring a nuclear submarine. But previous governments did not disclose the information. Moreover, Australia signed a contract with France, already in fact knowing that it could most likely be disrupted and that Canberra's conventional submarines are not needed in this regard. Also in Australia, the fees of a former US military official, paid from the local treasury, are being discussed. They are, as noted, comparable to the fees paid by top managers of the largest companies.
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