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Nuclear submarines are to conventional ones as machine-guns are to muskets
Nuclear submarines are to conventional ones as machine-guns are to muskets

Telegraph

time5 days ago

  • Politics
  • Telegraph

Nuclear submarines are to conventional ones as machine-guns are to muskets

So, we and the Australians have reaffirmed our commitment to the Aukus pact, the central element of which is that Australia will get a force of nuclear powered but conventionally armed submarines. Down the road, the plan is that there will be a jointly developed Australian-British submarine class, which will follow on from the current British Astute class boats. But Britain must first – with very great urgency – finish building the Astutes and then get cracking on our replacement nuclear deterrent submarines. Our current Trident subs are now so old, and their support infrastructure so messed up, that getting the next one ready to take over from the one setting out on patrol can take six months – putting an intolerable burden on our submariners. We don't have the industrial base or the funding to build two classes of submarine at once, so the Brit-Aussie subs will have to wait, probably for quite a long time. Thus, under the Aukus plan, the first few boats for Australia will be US made Virginia class subs. Unfortunately that part of the plan was always a little problematic, as the US industrial base is also creaking. The US Navy has the money to buy two new attack submarines a year, which assuming a 30-year lifespan would sustain a fleet of 60. But US yards have only managed to produce an average of 1.2 Virginia s per year in recent times: the American attack-boat fleet is shrinking, and is now down to 53. While this seems like a huge number to a former Royal Navy man like me, and I would suggest that the USN can easily spare a few hulls for the land Down Under, to Americans the prospect of having a measly 50 attack boats in service – or even fewer – is a horrifying one. Now President Trump has launched a review of the Aukus deal, which could see the US pull out. That might torpedo the whole plan, as Australia cannot afford to wait decades to get some new submarines. Before the Aukus plan was announced, it had been thought that the Aussies might buy conventionally-powered boats from France, and the Aukus plan has never lacked for opponents in the US, the UK, Australia – and France, of course. But there are a few things that enemies of Aukus might consider. The first is the absolutely enormous difference between conventionally-powered and nuclear-powered submarines. They are both called 'submarines' but that is hugely misleading. It's a bit like saying that a musket and a machine-gun are both firearms. The standard form of conventional sub has diesel-electric propulsion. It's essentially a somewhat modernised version of the German U-boats of World War Two (and One). Diesel engines need air to run, so when the boat is submerged it has to use electric motors fed by a bank of batteries. It cannot move fast like this except very briefly, nor can it go very far even at a crawl. It has to put up a 'snort' air-intake mast at regular intervals for long periods of time to recharge its batteries if it is to go a long way, and if it wants to go that long way at any reasonable speed it has to surface completely. Doing either means it is easily found using radar. A conventional submarine is therefore unlikely to last long under the footprint of hostile radar-equipped aircraft – as indeed the U-boats did not, back in the day. By contrast a nuclear boat can stay fully down for months on end, going at any speed it chooses the entire time. Only a complex system of specialist assets – seabed sensors, enemy nuclear subs, specially equipped anti-submarine warships and aircraft, all working together – has any chance of locating and tracking it. Its heavyweight torpedoes can sink any ship: its cruise missiles can strike targets ashore from a thousand miles away. It's a game-changing weapon, and a nation with nuclear subs is a hugely more dangerous opponent than one without. It's true, there are various so-called 'air independent' enhancements which can be added to conventional boats. These involve using tanks of oxygen to run various different kinds of auxiliary propulsion while submerged. The mainstream method is hydrogen fuel cells, but some nations prefer Stirling-cycle engines as these can be run on the boat's ordinary diesel fuel while the oxygen lasts. France, uniquely, has developed the 'Module d'Energie Sous-Marine Autonome' (MESMA) system, which is an ethanol-powered steam turbine. It's considerably more powerful than the other air-independent options, but it apparently lacks endurance and makes a lot of noise. The only nation which actually uses MESMA is Pakistan: France doesn't, of course, as it has proper nuclear boats. All the air-independent options are always installed alongside conventional diesels, which gives a good handy hint as to just how useful they are. None of them come anywhere close to the capability of a nuclear boat, and they require recharging with oxygen and usually one or another kind of exotic fuel as well: they can't do this at sea, or even in most harbours or naval bases. A nuclear boat, by contrast, runs for many years without refuelling and makes its own air and water: all it needs is supplies of food for the crew every few months. If Australia and its friends are going to tip the Pacific balance of power in their favour, it's nuclear submarines that are needed, not any kind of conventional ones. That means Aukus. The second factor in favour of Aukus is basing. When it comes to facing down China a submarine based at Perth in Western Australia has a lot more effect than one based on the US West Coast, and enormously more than one based in the Atlantic. The first element of the Aukus plan – before even the transfer of Virginia s to Australia – is the basing of a British Astute and some USN boats at Perth. This is planned for this decade, and will appreciably change the parameters of wargames modelling a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Elbridge Colby, the man in charge of Trump's Aukus review, is a known China hawk. If he's serious about that he'll realise that the Perth base is a good thing on its own. Getting that base is well worth leasing a few Virginia s to the Aussies, especially as it brings a British Astute into the Pacific in the near future, and a new friendly fleet of UK-Australian boats further off. From the American point of view, Aukus is a rare case of some Western allies actually pulling their weight on defence – something President Trump and Secretary of Defence Hegseth are vocally in favour of. As Tom Sharpe of this parish has put it: ' The free world needs a fleet of nuclear submarines based in Australia '. Aukus must succeed.

Britain and Australia to sign 50-year nuclear submarine treaty
Britain and Australia to sign 50-year nuclear submarine treaty

Yahoo

time6 days ago

  • Business
  • Yahoo

Britain and Australia to sign 50-year nuclear submarine treaty

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Britain and Australia announced they will sign a cooperation treaty to build Australian nuclear-powered submarines and welcomed a review by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration of the United States' role in the trilateral defense deal. Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey and Foreign Secretary David Lammy met Friday with their Australian counterparts Richard Marles and Penny Wong in Sydney for an annual bilateral meeting. Marles said he and Healey will sign a 50-year treaty Saturday that will underpin bilateral cooperation on building an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology. 'It is as significant a treaty as has been signed between our two countries since federation,' Marles said, referring to the unification of several British colonies to form the Australian government in 1901. The three-way alliance was announced in 2021 to contend with growing Chinese military might in the Asia-Pacific region. It would deliver Australia at least eight submarines including three to five second-hand U.S. Virginia-class submarines. Britain and Australia would cooperate to build their own SSN-AUKUS submarines. US reviewing AUKUS trilateral submarine deal U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reviewing the pact, known by the acronym AUKUS, that was entered into by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration. There are concerns that the U.S. won't provide Australia with its first Virginia-class submarine by the early 2030s as planned because U.S. submarine-building was behind schedule. Marles and Healey declined to speculate on whether Britain and Australia would continue with jointly building submarines if the U.S. pulled out when questioned at a press conference. 'Australia and the U.K. welcome the review because we see this as a chance for a new administration to renew their commitment to AUKUS. And that's what we expect,' Healey said. 'Any sort of hypotheticals that you suggest simply aren't part of the picture,' Healey added, referring to the prospect of Britain and Australia proceeding without the U.S. The Australian government confirmed this week it had paid the U.S. a second $500 million installment on the AUKUS deal. The first $500 million was paid in February. The submarines are expected cost Australia up to $245 billion. The meeting comes as 3,000 British military personnel take part in the largest military exercise ever conducted in Australia. British aircraft carrier joins Australian war games More than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations are taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre, which began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the U.S. and Australia. Marles and Healey will inspect the British aircraft HMS Prince of Wales at the northern port of Darwin on Sunday. The carrier is in Australia to take part in the war games. Lammy said the carrier's arrival in Darwin was meant to send a clear signal to the world. 'With our carrier strike group docking in Darwin, I think we're sending a clear signal, a signal of the U.K.'s commitment to this region of the world. Our determination to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open, and that we stand together,' he said. Rod Mcguirk, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio

Australia makes second US$525mil Aukus payment amid US review
Australia makes second US$525mil Aukus payment amid US review

Free Malaysia Today

time23-07-2025

  • Business
  • Free Malaysia Today

Australia makes second US$525mil Aukus payment amid US review

Australia sees the nuclear-powered submarines as critical to its defence in the Indo-Pacific. (EPA Images pic) SYDNEY : Australia has paid the US A$800 million (US$525 million) in the second instalment under the Aukus nuclear submarine deal, despite an ongoing formal review of the agreement by US President Donald Trump's administration. Prime minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the latest instalment today, following an initial US$500 million paid in February. In 2023, the US, Australia and Britain unveiled details of a plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the early 2030s to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. Australia committed to spend A$368 billion over three decades in its biggest-ever defence deal. Canberra is due to pay the US US$2 billion by year-end to support the expansion of American submarine shipyards, Reuters reported in April. 'There's a schedule of payments to be made. We have an agreement with the US as well as with the UK, it is about increasing their capacity, their industrial capacity,' Albanese told national broadcaster ABC. 'As part of that as well, we have Australians on the ground, learning those skills.' Trump launched a formal review of Aukus in June to examine whether the pact met his 'American First' criteria. It will be led by Elbridge Colby, who in the past has expressed scepticism about Aukus. Australia, which sees the submarines as critical to its own defence as tensions grow over China's military build-up, has maintained it is confident the pact will proceed. 'We support Aukus,' Albanese said. 'We have an agreement to a treaty level, with our partners, signed, of course in San Diego with the US and UK.' Washington will sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, while Britain and Australia will later build a new Aukus-class submarine.

New $800m payment for AUKUS was scheduled, Prime Minister says
New $800m payment for AUKUS was scheduled, Prime Minister says

News.com.au

time23-07-2025

  • Business
  • News.com.au

New $800m payment for AUKUS was scheduled, Prime Minister says

Australia has sent another $800m to the US as part of the AUKUS deal, which the Trump administration has under review, but the Prime Minister says it was simply a part of the 'schedule'. Anthony Albanese was asked about the new payment that took the total to $1.6bn, which was reported in Nine newspapers on Wednesday. 'There is a schedule of payments to be made, we have an agreement with the United States as well as with the United Kingdom,' Mr Albanese told ABC's Afternoon Briefing. 'It is about increasing the capacity, their industrial capacity, and as part of that, we have Australians on the ground, learning the skills so that when it comes to the SSN-AUKUS, the submarines being built here in Australia, we have those skills.' Defence Minister Richard Marles earlier confirmed the report saying 'the payments are occurring in line with Australia's commitment to contribute US$2bn by the end of 2025, which underscores our commitment to the successful delivery of AUKUS Pillar I outcomes'. The US' review was announced in June and is being headed up by Elbridge Colby, the US undersecretary of defence. Mr Colby recently made headlines when it was revealed he was pressuring the Australian and Japanese governments to reveal what they would do if China invaded Taiwan. The AUKUS deal is a long-term arrangement that will cost upwards of $268bn, and as much as $368bn, over the next 30 years. Australia would buy nuclear submarines from the US, while developing our own capacity to build submarines in Adelaide. The new payment came as Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor said he was 'worried' about the government's position on defence. 'I worry that the government – I think it's not just me worried, I think every expert looking at this is making these comments – they're deeply worried that we're not on our way to having the defence force we need in such an uncertain time,' Mr Taylor said.

Australia pays US another $800m for Aukus amid Trump administration review of security pact
Australia pays US another $800m for Aukus amid Trump administration review of security pact

The Guardian

time23-07-2025

  • Business
  • The Guardian

Australia pays US another $800m for Aukus amid Trump administration review of security pact

Australia made a second $800m payment to America's shipbuilding industry – bringing total payments so far to $1.6bn which was promised before the Trump administration placied the Aukus agreement under review. As part of the Aukus deal – in which Australia would buy nuclear submarines from the US ahead of its own nuclear submarines being built in Adelaide - Australia has agreed to pay about $4.6bn towards boosting US shipbuilding capacity. After decades of under-investment, the US has fewer nuclear submarines than it needs for its own defence, and is building them too slowly to replace its ageing fleet, potentially jeopardising the sale of any submarines to Australia. The office of Australian defence minister Richard Marles has confirmed the second $800m payment was made in the second quarter of 2025 to boost US boat-building, with payments occurring 'in line with Australia's commitment to contribute US$2 billion by the end of 2025'. A further payment is due later this year. 'When the AUKUS pathway was announced in March 2023, Australia was clear that we would make a proportionate contribution to the United States industrial base,' a defence spokesperson said 'Australia's contribution is about accelerating US production rates and maintenance to enable the delivery of Australia's future Virginia class submarines.' Anthony Albanese confirmed the payment was made as part of an agreed schedule, committed to before the US announced its review of Aukus. 'There is a schedule of payments to be made, we have an agreement with the United States as well as with the United Kingdom, it is about increasing the capacity, their industrial capacity, and as part of that, we have Australians on the ground, learning the skills so that when it comes to the SSN Aukus, the submarines being built here in Australia, we have those skills.' Australia is also paying the UK about $4.6bn to assist its shipbuilding industry. In June, US president Donald Trump ordered a review into the Aukus deal signed by his predecessor Joe Biden. The review is being headed by the Pentagon's under secretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby, who has previously declared himself 'skeptical' about the deal, fearing it could leave US sailors exposed and under-resourced. There is speculation the review could demand further financial contributions – or political commitments such as support in a conflict over Taiwan – from Australia in exchange for the sale of nuclear submarines and transfer of nuclear technology. The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has already asked Australia to lift its overall defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, from its current level of 2%. The US has been demanding similar increases from other allies, including Nato countries. One of the most significant concerns over Aukus in the US is the naval superpower's capacity to spare any submarines to sell to Australia: the first sale is forecast for 2032. The Aukus agreement mandates that before any submarine can be sold to Australia, the US commander-in-chief – the president of the day – must certify that America relinquishing a submarine will not diminish the US navy's undersea capability. The US's submarine fleet numbers are currently a quarter below their target and the country is producing boats at half the rate it needs to service its own needs, US government figures show. Marles told parliament in question time that Aukus would deliver Australia a 'long-range submarine capability' required for a more contested region and world. 'We are living in a more volatile world with increasing challenges… we need a defence force which will give pause for thought for any potential adversary which seeks to coerce us.' The head of the Australian Submarine Agency, Vice-Admiral Jonathan Mead, told senate estimates in February this year Australia's funding to the US industrial base was a vital element of the Aukus deal. 'This contribution will help uplift the US submarine industrial base capacity and accelerate sustainment and production to enable the delivery of Virginia class submarines to Australia. 'Australia's contribution to the US submarine industrial base is to benefit both the United States and Australia.'

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