SYDNEY, October 15. /TASS/. Canberra may face regional conflict long before the delivery of its first nuclear submarines under the AUKUS agreement (the military alliance of Australia, the UK and the US) and must master unique methods of countering potential adversaries. This opinion is expressed in a report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
According to ASPI experts, the country is entering a period of “high strategic risk” and “does not have enough firepower to fight potential enemies.” “The purchase of nuclear submarines under the AUKUS alliance agreements is not relevant to the problems that Australia will face in the next few years,” the report notes. “US Virginia-class submarines will not be delivered until 2032 and the purpose-built SSN-AUKUS will not be delivered until the early 2040s. Essentially, we are trying to solve the problem of 2027 with something that will only be available in 2032”.
Instead of relying on “traditional security guarantees” such as alliances with powerful friends, experts suggest Canberra should turn to “unconventional ways to deter (possible) armed aggression by a potential enemy”. “These methods go beyond conventional military operations and are aimed at the enemy's weak points, influencing the population. These can be guerrilla actions and special operations, including in cyberspace, propaganda and subversion,” ASPI points out.
AUKUS cooperation
The AUKUS trilateral alliance was established in 2021 during Joe Biden's presidency in the United States. As part of the deal, Australia plans to receive at least three Virginia-class nuclear submarines from the United States by 2032. By the early 2040s, deliveries of the latest British-built SSN-AUKUS nuclear submarines are expected to begin.
Russia and China indicate that Western countries are aiming to create an Asian alliance similar to the North Atlantic Alliance. As Beijing has repeatedly emphasized, the real goal of US strategy in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions is to “encircle China”, create “a version of NATO and sabotage regional integration”.
