The US Pentagon is set to review a nuclear submarine deal agreed during the Biden administration with Australia and the UK, casting the agreement’s future into uncertainty, the Financial Times reported.
The review of AUKUS is apparently led by senior Pentagon official and AUKUS skeptic Elbridge Colby.
The report comes just days after the UK recently committed more than $8 billion to boost London’s submarine-building capacity to bolster AUKUS.
But the biggest loser if the deal were to collapse may be Australia, defense experts said: The country has no viable alternative in terms of its nuclear submarine capability even as Canberra has grown increasingly concerned about China’s growing military strength.
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