AUKUS News, Views, Analysis.

[zavve]

The Australians really only have one option for a submarine in the next decade since Astute isn't an option. It's either SSN(R) in 2035 or SSN-774/SSNX. Rolls-Royce has retooled their factory in Derby for PWR-3 so making another Astute would result in delays for Dreadnought and be very expensive.

 

[sheogorath]

This design seems rather questionable and convoluted but I'm no aerospace engineer

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[CMP]

This design seems rather questionable and convoluted but I'm no aerospace engineer

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I bet it's going to cost 50 - 100 times more to conduct the same quality and quantity of surveillance, and deliver the same quantity and quality of bombs/missiles as the equivalent Chinese drone.

 

[qrex]

There have been a number of rumours recently that Australia is going to choose a British design as the basis for our nuclear submarine program, but they haven't risen to a level of credibility that I thought worth posting about them. Now, however, we have former Defence Minister, AUKUS-architect, and current Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton, expressing his views on those rumours in a manner that suggests he lends them credence:

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I think these comments are the strongest indication we have yet as to the direction things are going.

Also, this never gets old:

(At the time of this video, Dutton was Defence Minister and Albanese was Leader of the Opposition; now Albanese is Prime Minister and Dutton is Leader of the Opposition).

Would be kinda awesome if Labor tried to poison pill the whole thing by choosing a british design then letting it fall over but i know Labor isnt that based

 

[Lethe]

Seems the Brits think they've got it:

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An enthusiastic Rishi Sunak has told ministers to expect a positive outcome next week when he travels to San Diego to unveil a deal to supply nuclear-powered submarines to Australia as part of the Aukus pact with the US.

Multiple sources said they believed the UK had succeeded in its bid to sell British-designed nuclear submarines to Australia, a deal that will safeguard the long-term future of the shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness.

A senior minister said Sunak had told colleagues he was delighted by the outcome of the negotiations, which have been going on for 18 months and have presented Australia with a choice between a British or a US design, based on the existing Astute or Virginia class submarines.

“The deal has definitely gone our way. The prime minister was buzzing about it when he told ministers, smiling and bouncing on the balls of his feet,” the minister said.

 

[CMP]

Seems the Brits think they've got it:

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Even if they do, it's pennies on the dollar of what they lost due to Brexit. We're going to look back in 20-30 years and realize that Brexit was a US psyop to firm up vassalization of the UK.

 

[Maikeru]

I suspect Rishi might be celebrating too early:

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[Lethe]

I suspect Rishi might be celebrating too early:

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The suggestion is that Australia will acquire three Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s, with options for two more, ahead of the British design boats coming later. If that is the case, likely the Virginia-class submarines will be coming "off the shelf" from the American production line, while the British submarines will be at least partly built in Australia.

In any case we will know the full details in a few days and I will reserve comment until then.

 

[gelgoog]

Australia had 6 Collins class submarines which cost them around $3.37 billion USD. A single Virginia class submarine with VPM costs about as much. This program is going to go nowhere. At least not with those numbers. I expect them to buy like 3 nuclear submarines at best. 3 submarines with 2 options, and more from the UK later? Not going to happen. Unless the idea is that the US will loan them the submarines to take them back later.

 

[Lethe]

It would seem sensible for the US side of the arrangement to be a loan, but that doesn't appear to be what is being suggested across a variety of publications.

The rest of it is as expected: extensive personnel mixing, USA turning Australia into a Guam fallback position, potentially multiple bases with support infrastructure for both American and "Australian" SSNs. It's all rather depressing, really.