Build up.....

Biden to announce joint deal with U.K. and Australia on advanced defense-tech sharing

One source said there is a nuclear-defense infrastructure to the three-way pact known as AUUKUS.

By ALEXANDER WARD

President Joe Biden will announce a new working group with Britain and Australia to share advanced technologies in a thinly veiled bid to counter China, a White House official and a Congressional staffer told POLITICO.

The trio, which will be known by the acronym AUUKUS, will make it easier for the nations to share information and know-how in key technological areas like artificial intelligence, cyber, underwater systems and long-range strike capabilities

One of the people said there will be a nuclear element to the pact in which the U.S. and U.K. share their knowledge of how to maintain nuclear-defense infrastructure.

There’s nothing explicitly mentioning China in the three-way deal, the people said, but both noted that the subtext of the announcement is that this is another move by Western allies to push back on China’s rise in the military and technology arenas.

Biden will announce the deal in a 5:00 p.m. address Wednesday.