Australia to Get Nuclear Submarines

[Sardaukar]

Is this the day when French woman asks in HMS Victory: "Are these actual cannonballs used in Trafalgar?" Answer: "No, ma'am, your navy still have those..." 

[Stuart Galbraith]

FUKUS eh? Can't see anyone being offended by that acronym..

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Argus]

A bit long and frankly his language is a little unpolished, but.... its good 👍

[Colin]

A bit on the SK sub

 

[futon]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Defense will order just one Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine in fiscal 2025, a drop from the two-per-year pace of recent years.

The decrease, announced Monday, reflects U.S. shipbuilding bottlenecks. The two private shipyards that produce the Virginia class -- General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries -- face mounting backlogs due to limited capacity and personnel shortages.

... The delay of the Virginia class exposes the strains of the AUKUS defense pact as well. Together with the U.K., the arrangement seeks to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The U.S. has promised to sell Australia three Virginia-class submarines, in 2032, 2035 and 2038, with the option of providing two more. The idea is to strengthen deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region with key allies, but Navy officials have raised concerns about the impact AUKUS will have on shipyards.

The two-boats-per-year pace only addressed U.S. demand. To cater to AUKUS, the U.S. needs to construct 2.33 submarines per year, according to the Congressional Research Service. The actual delivery rate has averaged 1.2 boats per year for the past five years

... "If such a cut is actually enacted, it will remove one more attack submarine from a fleet that is already 17 submarines below the Navy's long stated requirement of 66," Courtney said. "Given the new commitment the Department of Defense and Congress made last year to sell three submarines to our ally Australia, which I enthusiastically support, the ramifications of the Navy's proposal will have a profound impact on both countries."

...

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Defense/U.S.-cuts-key-submarine-order-for-2025-amid-shipbuilding-jam

[Stuart Galbraith]

Which illustrates something ive long been saying, the US simply doesnt have the shipbuilding capacity to make good on the numbers of 688's and Ohio's as they leave service. There is a good case for saying investing in Aukus is a good idea, just so the US can get yard capacity abroad for making Virginia components.

Oh I know, 'Must be built here' yada yada yada...

[futon]

Could have been an Australian one today.

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://www.forces.net/services/navy/australian-trailblazers-become-first-complete-intense-royal-navy-nuclear-engineer

Three Royal Australian Navy officers have become the first in their service's history to qualify in the UK as nuclear engineers, following nine months of intensive training delivered by the Royal Navy.

The training, delivered as part of the Aukus agreement, a pact between the UK, US and Australia to build a new generation of nuclear-powered submarines, saw the Australian officers train alongside their Royal Navy counterparts at HMS Sultan in Gosport.

Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, the Chief of the Royal Australian Navy and a submariner said: "The graduation marks another significant step forward for the Royal Australian Navy's ability to operate, maintain and support Australia's future nuclear-powered submarine capability.

 

The three officers, named only as Lieutenant Commander James, Lieutenant Isabella and Lieutenant Steve, will now go on to serve in Astute-class submarines alongside the Royal Navy as they gain practical experience to complement their studies.

Lt Cdr James will now be assigned to the Royal Navy's newest hunter-killer submarine, HMS Agamemnon, which is nearing completion in Barrow.

He said: "The experience of bringing her out of construction, going through trials and training will be hugely important down the line for our programme."

[futon]

SYDNEY, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Australia, the United States and Britain have removed significant barriers on defence trade between the AUKUS partners and opened the way for faster approvals for highly sensitive technologies, Australian officials said.

The move is seen as a significant step for Australia to acquire U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines and jointly develop with the U.S. and Britain a new class of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine over the next two decades.

The AUKUS partners are also developing advanced defence technology spanning hypersonic missiles, undersea drones and quantum technologies, with the reforms expected to speed up the transition of these projects from research to production.

The United States is Australia's closest security ally, but had restricted sharing of closely guarded defence technology, which is governed by the U.S. International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

...

https://www.reuters.com/world/australia-britain-us-drop-defence-trade-barriers-propel-aukus-2024-08-15/

[Argus]

Another step down the road 

Tasking Statement signed - I know its just a fact of life, but in the archives the procurement file on the two county class cruisers (HMAS Australia and Canberra) from the 20's is a couple of inches thick. Mostly, so I understand, because they contain a folded up large scale GA plan, the functional documents are a few of letters and telegrams, two contracts and three invoices. The equivalent paper trail for the ANZAC class frigate program is measured in shelf meters of documents. I hate to think how many new archive buildings we're going to need for the combined Collins Replacements.      

https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/australian-government-and-industry-partners-reach-ssn-aukus-agreement?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=baesystemsplc&utm_campaign=SocialCT&utm_content=Post&utm_term=c53c8306-fbb1-4423-9d0d-04af15028769