President Joe Biden to visit San Diego on Monday

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – President Joe Biden visited San Diego on Monday with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to lay out a phased plan for Australia to acquire conventional nuclear submarines.

The meeting on Monday outlined how Australia would acquire up to five nuclear submarines from the United States as part of an agreement, according to the White House.

“One of the most important parts of this partnership is to increase the submarine capabilities of each of our countries,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement. “In accordance with the first phase of the Optimal Path, the United States and the United Kingdom will immediately increase the number of calls to ports with conventional weapons and nuclear-powered submarines in Australia, and then, as early as 2027, will begin rotating submarines through Australia in accordance with the principle of rotation of submarines. boats. West”.

After this first phase, the US intends to sell three Virginia-class submarines to Australia in the 2030s, with the potential to sell two more if needed. Both Australia and the UK will then “develop and deploy the SSN-AUKUS, a new conventionally armed nuclear submarine that incorporates critical US technology.”

A trilateral partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, known as AUKUS, announced in 2021, aims to develop the Australian submarine program.

“In addition, this plan will boost all three countries’ underwater industrial bases and submarine capabilities, enhancing deterrence and promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” the White House said in a statement.

Biden flew to Naval Air Station North Island and arrived shortly after noon. Upon arrival, he was met by Vice Admiral Roy Kitchener, Commander of Naval Surface Forces, and Captain Charles McKissick, Commander of Naval Base Coronado.

Later that day, the president was expected to be met at San Diego International Airport by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and other local elected officials.

This is Biden’s first visit to the San Diego area since a 19-hour visit October 3-4, when he spoke at MiraCosta College in Oceanside and at a tech company in Carlsbad.

Biden is due to travel to the Los Angeles area Tuesday to visit Monterey Park, the site of the recent mass shooting that killed 11 people. Biden is expected to discuss efforts to reduce gun violence, according to the White House.

California Republican Party chair Jessica Millan Patterson said Biden should use his two-day tour of California to address issues that the Republican Party often thinks about, such as inflation, fentanyl and energy prices.

“California people deserve answers to the pressing problems they face because of the failures of the Biden administration, but we have no doubt that we will receive them during his trip to California or soon,” Patterson said in a statement.

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