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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Ben Doherty

Trump pick for Pentagon says selling submarines to Australia would be ‘crazy’ if Taiwan tensions flare

Virginia-class attack submarine New Mexico undergoing sea trials.
Virginia-class attack submarine New Mexico undergoing sea trials. Elbridge Colby has told Congress ‘it would be crazy to have fewer SSNs Virginia-class [attack submarines] in the right place and time.’ Photograph: US NAVY/AFP/Getty Images

One of Donald Trump’s top picks for the Pentagon says selling submarines to Australia under the Aukus agreement poses a “very difficult problem” for the US and could endanger its own sailors.

Elbridge Colby, Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy – the number three post at the US Department of Defense – has previously admitted he is “skeptical” about Aukus and said this week he is worried selling submarines to Australia could leave US sailors “vulnerable” because the vessels won’t be “in the right place in the right time”.

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