Oz seals sub deal with France

Canberra: Australia formally signed a $50 billion “strategic partnership” with France to build 12 state of the art submarines on Monday, a signal of Canberra's willingness to project power across the Pacific. Prime Minister Scott Morrison hailed the “very audacious plan” at a ceremony in Canberra as “part of Australia's biggest ever peace-time investment in defence”. The partnership's main pillar is a contract for France's Naval Group – a consortium with state backing – to build 12 attack-class submarines and has been years in making. It is Australia's largest defence procurement project.