In September 2021, Australia tore up a $90bn conventional submarine contract with France to instead acquire nuclear submarine technology from the US or the UK as part of the new Aukus alliance.
In December 2021, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute published a report estimating that building eight submarines the size of the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class subs could cost as much as 171 billion Australian dollars, the equivalent of 106 billion U.S. dollars at today's exchange rates.
Taxpayers could pay up to $10 billion for each of Australia's nuclear submarines, a new report warns, amid the growing likelihood the long-term solution will result in Australia, the US and Britain operating a commonly designed “AUKUS” boat across the three navies.
The introduction of nuclear-powered submarines will require substantial development of Australia's scientific and engineering capacity. We cannot afford to drag our feet on this.
Under the pact, the UK and the US agreed to help Australia build and operate its own fleet of nuclear-propelled submarines by 2040, expanding its military reach. In a statement on Saturday, the alliance members reaffirmed a “commitment to Australia acquiring this capability at the earliest possible date.”
AUKUS (/ˈɔːkəs/, AW-kəs) is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, announced on 15 September 2021 for the Indo-Pacific region. Under the pact, the US and the UK will help Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
The submarines are to be built in Australia under the AUKUS arrangement with the United States and United Kingdom. Australia is yet to choose a US or UK submarine, but reactors on both use highly enriched, or 'weapons grade', nuclear fuel that does not need to be replaced for the boat's 30-year life.
They also use special fuels, which may require specialised facilities to replenish. In theory, nuclear submarines' superior speeds, unlimited endurance and ability to remain submerged indefinitely make them extremely attractive for a country with Australia's strategic requirements.
The Department of Defence plans to build at least eight nuclear submarines by 2040 as well as a new submarine base on the east coast.
It is just one of a number of ideas being considered to ensure Australia receives at least eight nuclear-powered submarines amid tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
Australia and France today finalised the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to build Australia's future submarine fleet. The agreement, signed by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the French Minister for Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, will underpin the largest capital project in Australia's history.
Anthony Galloway. Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Australia would buy nuclear submarines from the United States by the middle of the next decade to give it more time to be able to build the boats onshore under a plan being considered by the Albanese government.
Australia's new Labor-led government has reached a 555 million euro ($583.58 million) settlement over a controversial decision last year to scrap the French submarine deal, a move Canberra hopes will help repair the rift between the two countries.
The $835 million settlement with Naval Group for the dumped $90 billion French submarine program is expected to pave the way for enhanced defence and security links between Canberra and Paris, according to defence sources.
The Attack-class submarine was a planned class of French-designed submarines for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), expected to enter service in the early 2030s with construction extending until 2050. The project, which would have replaced the Collins-class submarines began in 2007 as the Future Submarine program.
Does Australia Have or Want Nuclear Weapons? Australia does not possess any nuclear weapons and is not seeking to become a nuclear weapon state. Australia's core obligations as a non-nuclear-weapon state are set out in the NPT. They include a solemn undertaking not to acquire nuclear weapons.
Sailors assigned to the Australian navy Collins-class submarine HMAS Sheean (SSG 77) prepare to receive hotel services and supplies during a bilateral training event with the submarine tender USS Emory S.
China has fielded new, longer-range ballistic missiles on its six nuclear-powered submarines, allowing it to hit the continental U.S. from much closer to its own shores, the U.S. acknowledged publicly for the first time Friday.
The RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, space surveillance, and humanitarian support. The RAAF has 259 aircraft, of which 110 are combat aircraft.
Australia was set to pay $66 billion for a total of 12 French-designed submarines, or over $5 billion per submarine (the original price was $40 billion).
Under the AUKUS alliance with those partners established last year, Australia is set to construct at least eight nuclear submarines of its own, likely deploying them in the latter half of the 2030s. A study on the base construction is to be completed by the end of 2023, leading to the selection of the site.
As with chemical and biological weapons, Australia does not possess nuclear weapons and is not at all known to be seeking to develop them.
Nuclear power stations are expensive and take too long to build. CSIRO says by far the lowest cost way of producing electricity is with solar and wind even when factoring in storage. In contrast, the costs of building and operating nuclear in Australia remain prohibitively high.