Friday, March 29, 2024

US and UK Fast-Tracking Nuke-Powered Submarines for Australia to Face China

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In a bid to accelerate delivery of nuclear submarines for the Australian Navy, the and are reportedly ‘pulling out all the stops' to speed up the massive $90 billion project. now may launch its first of eight nuclear-powered submarines in the early 2030s, at least five years ahead of schedule. (RELATED: US Headed for ‘Catastrophic Defeat' in War With China Warns Former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich)

They were originally not expected to join the Australian naval fleet until 2040 at the earliest, but the Pentagon is pushing for a far earlier time frame.

Experts note that Australia's current Collins Class submarines would need major overhauls to extend their service life beyond 2038, making it vital to get the new nuclear subs in the water as soon as possible.

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The acerated timeline comes as fears grow of a stand-off with China over Taiwan, with Australian pledging to support any US response if the situation escalates.

The controversial Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) sub deal saw Australia abandon its contract with  for a fleet of diesel submarines to be delivered by 2035 in favor of US-UK nuke subs. The project has irked the Chinese communist regime. China branded the AUKUS deal as ‘extremely irresponsible” and is now pushing for a nuclear-free treaty for south-east Asia.

Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said the rhetoric against Australia should be seen as just part of China's attacks on all the other nations which oppose it and speak up against them. He also hinted the submarines could be built in Australia, despite the current lack of suitable shipyard facilities or nuclear power knowledge.

Work is reportedly already underway on designing local shipyards, but skilled workers need training.

The Daily Mail noted that:

…any move to manufacture them in Australia will require training shipyard workers, new equipment and specialist nuclear experts.

Some experts have predicted that may not be possible within the new shortened timeframe to rush the submarines into service.

However. moving production to Australia may be inevitable as Mr Dutton said the UK and US had limited spare production capacity to build the Australian submarines.

And he said work was already underway with the international partners on designing local shipyards.

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Australia has yet to decide if they will be using the US Class nuclear submarine design or the UK's similar Astute Class. Both are extremely sophisticated and capable warships.

The Daily Mail quotes Dutton as saying: ‘I think we are advancing at a quicker pace than what we could have imagined even at the time of the announcement.'

Dutton added: ‘There has been no game-playing, no roadblocks, they are pulling out all stops to make this work. It's a capability that we want to acquire quickly, and we are in those discussions right now.'

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

Paul Crespo
Paul Crespohttps://paulcrespo.com/
Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Liberty Defense News. As a Marine Corps officer, he led Marines, served aboard ships in the Pacific and jumped from helicopters and airplanes. He was also a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at U.S. embassies worldwide. He later ran for office, taught political science, wrote for a major newspaper and had his own radio show. A graduate of Georgetown, London and Cambridge universities, he brings decades of experience and insight to the issues that most threaten our American liberty – at home and from abroad.

1 COMMENT

  1. Noooooooooooooo! Noooooooooooooo! Noooooooooooooo! Noooooooooooooo!

    Dig 20o silos in the outback and scatter your 18 MIRV nukes randomly in them! Move them randomly by Truck and/or rail every so often under cover of night.

    A much cheaper option. All you need are diggers and truckdrivers instead of a Nuclear Navy.

    Make the CCP work to keep up by playing “Wack-a-Mole” with space satellite spying.

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