The announcement by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison hit Naval Group's contract with the country to build 12 state-of-the-art Attack Class subs, which was worth around AUS$50 billion (31 billion euros, US$36.5 billion).

"The Commonwealth of Australia did not want to go to the next phase of the programme, which is a great disappointment for Naval Group, which proposes to Australia a conventional submarine... of exceptional performance," the company said in a statement to AFP.

The deal with Naval Group was years behind schedule, well over budget and had become tangled up in Australian domestic politics.

As recently as June, President Emmanuel Macron promised "full and complete" commitment to the deal. But a top Australian defense official said around the same time that Australia was actively considering alternatives.

mra/jj/sw

NAVAL GROUP