French hit out after Australia axes nuclear submarine deal

France has condemned Australia's “regrettable” decision to axe a nuclear submarine deal between the two countries and join forces with Britain and the US instead, amid a growing diplomatic row over the move.

Paris ministers said that the U-turn was “contrary to the letter and the spirit of the co-operation which prevailed between France and Australia”.

Australia announced on Wednesday night that it was abandoning a controversial deal to spend A$90bn (£48bn) on a new fleet of submarines from French shipbuilder Naval Group.

Instead, the country unveiled a new strategic partnership between Australia, the UK and US known as AUKUS.

The Canberra government will be allowed to access nuclear submarine technology developed by the American and British militaries under the new tie-up, supporting its struggle to respond to an increasingly expansionary China.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, minister for Europe and foreign affairs, and Florence Parly, minister for armed forces, said: “France takes note of the decision just announced by the Australian government to stop the FSP ocean-class submarine programme and to launch co-operation with the US on nuclear-powered submarines.

© Provided by The Telegraph Submarine

“The American choice which leads to the removal of an ally and a European partner such as France from a structuring partnership with Australia, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, whether on our values or on respect for multilateralism based on the rule of law, marks an absence of coherence that France can only observe and regret.”

Although the new alliance was jointly announced by the leaders of Australia, the US and Britain, the French announcement made no reference to Britain.

The ministers added that France “confirms its desire for very ambitious action in this region aimed at preserving the ‘freedom of sovereignty' of everyone”.

The new trilateral pact delivered a boost to Britain's defence industry. 

Rolls-Royce, which has supplied nuclear reactors to the Royal Navy's submarines since the 1960s, is tipped to contribute to the new Australian vessels' power systems.

Shares in the FTSE 100 company rose almost 4pc in afternoon trading in London.

BAE Systems, which leads construction of submarines for the British fleet and is building Astute-class attack submarines and Dreadnought vessels to replace the Trident vessels, added almost 2pc.   

French defence group Thales, which owns just over a third of Naval Group, rose 2pc in Paris. It said the Australian deal represented just 2pc of its profits last year and confirmed its financial targets. 

Thales UK arm is a key supplies of sonar systems to the Royal Navy and could be in line to benefit from Australia's switch of position. 

Reference: The Telegraph: Alan Tovey