The Pentagon approves the OKOS agreement with Australia after reviewing it

The US Defense Department, the Pentagon, confirmed Washington’s commitment to the “Ocus” security agreement that Washington concluded in 2021 with Canberra and London, which specifically stipulates the sale to Australia of three American Virginia-class nuclear-propelled submarines within 15 years.

Washington signed the agreement during the era of former President Joe Biden with the United Kingdom and Australia, with the aim of containing the growing Chinese influence in the Pacific Ocean.

However, last June, the administration of President Donald Trump requested a review of the agreement, which raised concerns in Australia.

After a five-month review, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced in a statement that the agreement “is consistent with President Trump’s ‘America First’ policy.”

The statement said: “In accordance with President Trump’s directives to advance OKOS quickly, the review identified opportunities to launch OKOS on the strongest possible bases.”

Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney, the top Democrat on the House Seapower Subcommittee, said the review demonstrated that “the framework (of the agreement) is consistent with our country’s national security interests.”

He continued in a statement, “The 2021 OCOs agreement is continuing now after the change of three governments in the three countries, and it is still holding strong,” but the agreement poses major technical challenges.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth acknowledged that there was a “gap” between current production capabilities and the capabilities required to complete the construction of submarines in the United States within the specified deadlines.

But Courtney believed that “the sale of three Virginia-class submarines starting in 2032 is not in question,” indicating that Congress will support the American naval yards entrusted with this task.

In Canberra, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy expressed his satisfaction with the conclusions of the American review.

He said: “We will deal constructively with its conclusions and recommendations on how to improve (OCOS) further,” noting that it is up to Washington to decide whether to publish the document.

The submarine deal is at the heart of Australia’s strategy and one of its priorities, to improve its capabilities to direct long-range strikes in the Pacific Ocean, especially in the face of China.

The cost of the agreement for Canberra amounts to about 235 billion US dollars over the next 30 years, and it also includes supplying it from 2040 with a fleet of stealth submarines operating with nuclear propulsion and the technology to build its own submarines in the future.

The conclusion of the agreement sparked a major dispute with France in 2021, as Canberra then canceled a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of conventional diesel-powered submarines from Paris, and instead signed the “Ocus” agreement.

. The “Ocus” agreement was concluded by Washington during the Biden era with the United Kingdom and Australia, with the aim of containing the growing Chinese influence in the Pacific Ocean.