Australia’s nuclear submarine program with the United States and Britain will cost Australia up to A$368 billion ($245 billion) by 2055, a defense official told Reuters on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday unveiled details of a plan to equip Australia with nuclear attack submarines, a major step to counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.

Albanese said the program would lead to A$6 billion ($4 billion) of investment in industrial capacity over the next four years.

“This will be a sovereign Australian power, built by Australians, commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy and supported by Australian workers in Australian shipyards,” Albanese said in San Diego, California.

The Australian government’s funding for the program would be about 0.15 percent of gross domestic product per year, Albanese said, adding that the plan would create about 20,000 jobs over the next 30 years.

The new AUKUS submarines will be built in the state of South Australia, where 2 billion Australian dollars will be spent on infrastructure, and the Perth Naval Base, which will be the base of the new submarine fleet, will be modernized.

• On the same topic: Biden launches impressive submarine program with Australia and Great Britain