A sweeping pact signed in April 2021 bound Australia, the UK and the U.S. into a trilateral security cooperative, committing the AUKUS partners to a new level of technological and industrial partnership. As the first Avalon Airshow in a geo-politically dizzying four-year period gets set to start on Feb. 28 in Geelong, Australia, a new government in Canberra is finalizing the details of how the new alliance could reshape Australia's military buildup amid growing regional competition with China. The results of an ongoing Defense Security Review are expected to be released during or shortly after the air show, in March. The planned release by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should clarify the still murky details of Australia's planned acquisition of prized nuclear submarine technology from the U.S. and UK and perhaps other advanced technologies, including local contributions to a new class of hypersonic missiles.
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