Exclusive-Australia expected to buy up to 5 Virginia class submarines as part of AUKUS -sources

FILE PHOTO: Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles gestures toward U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during their trilateral meeting with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., December 7, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Australia is expected to buy up to five U.S. Virginia class nuclear powered submarines in the 2030's as part of a landmark defense agreement between Washington, Canberra and London, four U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The agreement, known as the AUKUS pact, will have multiple stages with at least one U.S. submarine visiting Australian ports in the coming years and end in the late 2030's with a new class of submarines being built with British designs and American technology, one of the officials said.