DefenceTalkAustralia’s decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines under a newly announced alliance with the United States and Britain has highlighted regional concerns over China’s growing maritime might in the Pacific. Justifying ditching an earlier deal with France for conventional submarines, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was “not a change of mind, it’s a change […]

DefenceTalkFrance expressed fury Thursday over Australia’s surprise decision to scrap a huge submarines deal in favor of nuclear-powered subs from the US, slamming the move as a breach of trust. “It’s really a stab in the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has been betrayed,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le […]

DefenceTalkBeijing on Thursday slammed a new US alliance with Australia and Britain, under which Canberra will acquire nuclear submarine technology, as an “extremely irresponsible” threat to regional stability. The agreement “seriously undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing. The Western allies […]

DefenceTalkThe United States announced a new alliance Wednesday with Australia and Britain to strengthen military capabilities in the face of a rising China, with Canberra to get a nuclear submarine fleet and American cruise missiles. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his British counterpart Boris Johnson did not mention China in unveiling […]

DefenceTalkThe Moroccan navy has rescued more than 400 migrants since Thursday, after their makeshift boats ran into trouble on the dangerous sea crossing to Europe, state media reported. The 438 migrants, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, were given first aid before being taken to the nearest Moroccan port, an officer told the state-run MAP […]

DefenceTalkSouth Korea’s Navy received its first ballistic-missile-capable submarine on Friday to counter the threat of underwater missiles from the nuclear-armed North. Pyongyang has been developing submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) technology for years. It showed off four such devices at a military parade overseen by leader Kim Jong Un in January, with state media KCNA calling […]

DefenceTalkThe UK government Friday denied it was provoking Beijing with the deployment of its most powerful navy task force in a generation, after Chinese state media issued a blunt warning. The strike group of Royal Navy and allied ships spearheaded by the giant new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has entered the South China Sea, […]

DefenceTalkThe UK Royal Navy has awarded a 12 month contract extension to Airbus covering the continued provision of satellite-based maritime surveillance services for the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC). The contract follows the successful completion of a proof of concept phase, and will ensure the continued monitoring of areas of interest in UK waters and […]

DefenceTalkLeaders of the U.S., French and British navies on Thursday signed a trilateral agreement to continue enhancing their collaboration. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, French Navy Adm. Pierre Vandier and Tony Radakin, First Sea Lord of Britain’s Royal Navy met in Toulon, France, Thursday to sign the agreement, the U.S. Navy said in […]

DefenceTalkA top Australian defence official said Wednesday the country was actively considering alternatives should a troubled multibillion-dollar French submarine deal fall through. The US$68 billion agreement with Naval Group to build 12 state-of-the-art Attack Class subs is years behind schedule, well over budget and tangled up in Australian domestic politics. The question of whether the […]