Australia's nuclear-powered submarine programme with the United States and Britain will cost up to A$368 billion ($245 billion) over the next three decades, a defence official said on Tuesday, the country's biggest single defence programme in history.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday unveiled details of a plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines, a major step to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
Albanese said the programme would start with a A$6 billion ($4 billion) investment over the next four years to expand a major submarine base and the country's submarine shipyards, as well as train skilled workers.
