AUKUS?

Is AUKUS, like, still happening?

The initial AUKUS deal had two explicit central pillars and an implicit third. The first expectation was that the deal would enable Australia to acquire nuclear attack submarines, replacing its fleet of conventional boats (and replacing French industry’s plan for its own successor boats) first with a Virginia-class submarine built in the United States and then by indigenous construction of advanced vessels with US and British input.

The second pillar was enabling technology cooperation between London, Canberra, and the United States on a previously unachieved scale, essentially extending the National Innovation Systems (NIS) of the three countries into a globe-spanning whole.

The third, no less important for being less explicit, was to lock in a long-term alliance which would require Australia, the US, and the UK to stand together against the potential of Chinese aggression in the Pacific.

Short answer… yes. Longer answer… maybe parts?