The new Anglo-American security alliance to help Australia build a nuclear submarine will be the template for more such narrowly focused pacts with countries in the crucial Indo-Pacific region, the United Kingdom’s top military officer said Tuesday.

It was Australia’s desire for a nuclear-powered sub that prompted the creation of the AUKUS (Australia-United Kingdom-US) alliance, which President Biden announced last month.

Nick Carter, the outgoing British Chief of the Defense Staff, said Tuesday during a virtual discussion hosted by the Center for a New American Security think tank.

Carter said the AUKUS alliance also has other provisions, such as sharing technologies, that are meant to counter an increasingly assertive Beijing.

“Our rivals tend to see the global strategic context as a global struggle,” he said.

Carter said of the HMS Queen Elizabeth deployment.

Carter said Russia and the challenge it poses along the Eurasian landmass remain Britain’s most acute security threat.

Carter said.

Carter said.

“The side that is quickest is going to win,” he said.

Carter said

Carter said