A Boat with a Vengeance: Could France Sell Nuclear-Powered Submarines to South Korea?

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 21/2021

By Mason Richey

16.11.2021

French leaders are still upset by the recently, ruthlessly cancelled submarine deal with Australia, which was a casualty of the formation of a strategic security alliance among Australia, the UK, and the US (AUKUS). Canberra’s decision to abrogate the $66bn contract with Paris for twelve diesel-electric attack submarines – switching to nuclear-powered submarines using US and UK technology transfers – has humiliated France and damaged its Indo-Pacific strategy. France’s bilateral relations with Australia and the US have suffered also. The shockwave is reverberating through NATO and the EU.

CSDS Policy brief_2121.pdf (386.63 KB)

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