Sydney, Australia, Mar 22 (EFE).- British defense contractor BAE Systems will build the Australian nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS trilateral security agreement, the group announced on Friday.

The AUKUS agreement was signed by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States in 2021 and provides for the building of the conventionally-armed submarines for Australia amid competition between Washington and Beijing for influence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.

BAE Systems will build the SSN-AUKUS submarines for the Australian Navy together with the Australian government shipbuilder ASC, according to an AUKUS statement, which did not specify how many submersibles are part of this project.

The three partners also reported that ASC was selected to maintain the submarines, which are based on the British next-generation design and include "cutting-edge" US technologies.

"SSN-AUKUS will be equipped for intelligence, surveillance, undersea warfare and strike missions, and will provide maximum interoperability among AUKUS partners," said the statement from British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, his American counterpart Lloyd J. Austin, and Australian counterpart Richard Marles.

The announcement comes as part of the Australia visit of Shapps, who on Friday was in Adelaide for the annual ministerial consultations between Australia and the United Kingdom (AUKMIN) together with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, as well as Marles and Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong. EFE

© 2024 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc., source EFE Ingles