Australia, UK to Sign 50-Year Treaty for Nuclear Submarines

Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom have a strategic defence partnership to build a class of nuclear-propelled submarines and work together in the Indo-Pacific region.
Photographer: Yuri Ramsey/ADF

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By Swati Pandey

July 24, 2025 at 7:46 PM EDT

Updated on

July 25, 2025 at 2:18 AM EDT

Australia and the UK will sign a landmark 50-year defense treaty on Saturday to underpin the construction of nuclear-powered submarines, senior ministers said following high-level talks in Sydney.

Framed as the most consequential bilateral agreement since Australia’s Federation in 1901, the pact underscores deepening defense ties between the historic partners against a backdrop of mounting global geopolitical volatility.