Australia believes foreign spies want to damage nuclear submarine programme
Foreign intelligence services are trying to infiltrate Australia's nuclear submarine programme. This was warned on Wednesday by the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess.
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According to him, the overall security situation in Australia is deteriorating. In his speech, which partially declassified the threat assessment, Burgess noted that the terrorist threat also persists, although now attackers are more likely to act alone and are teenagers.
Australia's programme of deploying stealth nuclear submarines in partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom (AUKUS) is an attractive target for espionage, even by friendly countries. Foreign intelligence agencies are trying to learn about the characteristics of future AUKUS submarines, their deployment, and undermine allied confidence in Australia.
By 2030, these efforts may focus on attempts to disrupt support for AUKUS and potentially sabotage it in the event of heightened tensions in the region. Burgess also noted that Australian military personnel are under constant attack by foreign intelligence services.
"Some recently received gifts from international partners. There were hidden surveillance devices inside," he said.
The SSN-AUKUS submarine. Illustration: BAE Systems
Australia is also not immune to the actions of hostile states, such as Iran, which carry out "acts that pose a security threat" on its territory. According to ASIO, at least three different countries have planned to physically harm people living in Australia.
He also spoke about one of the foreign intelligence operations that was disrupted. The plan was to lure a human rights activist living in Australia abroad and arrange an accident to seriously injure or kill him.
Last year, another hostile intelligence service attempted to "harm or possibly kill" one or more individuals in Australia as part of a wider campaign to eliminate critics of a particular regime. ASIO was also able to prevent this attempt. In both cases, the organisers were overseas, but as Burgess emphasised, they know "how we will deal with their agents".
Source: The Defence Post
