Australia, Britain defend Aukus nuclear submarine deal at FPDA meeting, say fears ‘overhyped’


Source: scmp.com scmp.com

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Australia and Britain on Thursday defended their nuclear submarine deal with the US amid concerns it could escalate tensions in the region and spark an arms race. British Minister for Armed Forces James Heappey said there “has been a lot of overhyping” of the pact known as Aukus . He said Britain and the US have been sharing such technologies for decades and that Australia’s decision to join was merely to develop its own submarine capability. The pact will provide Australia with nuclear reactors to power its submarines but the subs will not be nuclear-armed. It drew mixed reactions in...