AUKUS Treaty NEWS ONLY

Archibald said:
back to french subs, but 12 of them - and nuclear this time ? For the record, France can barely afford half that number, stretched over many years
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They'd only need 6 French subs really, as they are designed from the start for high availability and double crews.

So 6 Barracudas (with 10 crews) would provide more sea time (~900 to 1,000 days/year) than 6-8 US/UK SSNs, as well as more forward deployed time as they could do crew swaps in Darwin, Singapore, Guam etc.
 
BlackBat242 said:
Just a retired Admiral, who has no official position from which to wield any potential influence, spouting his personal opinion.

I fail to see why this matters at all.
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Given the low confidence in the current AUKUS strategy*, this adds to the noise driving towards a potential government review of the program after the coming elections in 2025.

Obviously there's a little bit of playing devil's advocate in his opinion piece, but if a retired rear admiral of his caliber is bothering to say this in public, presumably he believes this is not a waste of breath and there might be other conversations already happening behind closed doors discussing the program's future.

* Low confidence in regards to the delivery timeline, # of boats that will actually be delivered - which applies to both the Virginia buy and AUKUS-SSN buy - and even questions about the true strategic benefit
 
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AUKUS was brought in by the previous Coalition Govt (now the opposition) and was continued by the current Labour Govt. Regardless of who wins the 2025 election, I don't see either side doing anything significant to it. The US side on the other hand...
 
GTX said:
AUKUS was brought in by the previous Coalition Govt (now the opposition) and was continued by the current Labour Govt. Regardless of who wins the 2025 election, I don't see either side doing anything significant to it. The US side on the other hand...
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Ah, yes... the US side - which has specifically passed laws approving and supporting AUKUS and committing the US to providing those 3 Virginia class SSNs.
 
www.defenceconnect.com.au

Commonwealth, Industry partners reach SSN-AUKUS agreement

The Australian and UK Governments have formalised the agreement between he Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) and industry partners, BAE Systems and ASC Ltd to support the delivery of Australia's fleet of nuclear-powered, SSN-AUKUS submarines.
www.defenceconnect.com.au www.defenceconnect.com.au
 
BlackBat242 said:
Ah, yes... the US side - which has specifically passed laws approving and supporting AUKUS and committing the US to providing those 3 Virginia class SSNs.
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Well yeah, but the agreement still includes provisions for the US to back out of the transfer of submarines if it feels the need.

And despite Marles' and Mead's faith, we won't know for sure until the boats show up and there's an official handover which is still a looong way off.

And absolutely the US side has passed laws approving and supporting AUKUS, why wouldn't they? They get a sub base in WA and possibly NSW, nuclear armed B-52s sitting on the ramp at Tindal ready to go at a moments notice, air refuelling facilities and aircraft at Darwin, a permanent Marine presence in NT and a shit-ton of equipment pre-positioning in VIC.

All of it under the control of US troops.

Not to mention the billions in investment that Australian taxpayers are providing to boost US and UK submarine building instead of boosting their own, and all of it without even a parliamentary debate, all decided by a small group of people, behind closed doors.

The fact is, the US military will be so embedded in Australia's 'interchangeable' defence force by the time the transfer comes around and Australian politicians so compromised by a decade of lobbying and kickbacks that the US will be able to basically write it's own cheques.

So no, there's no way the US would walk away from AUKUS. They may finesse the handing over of submarines though, that remains to be seen.
 
www.innovationaus.com

South Australia secures STEM funding for AUKUS

The South Australian and Commonwealth governments have formerly signed an AUKUS cooperation agreement, which includes an initial commitment to 800 additional Commonwealth Supported Places at South Australian universities over the next four years. Defence minister Richard Marles said the places...
www.innovationaus.com www.innovationaus.com


Going all in...........

Regards,
 
Halcyon66 said:
www.afr.com

‘A cruel joke’: Why AUKUS might leave Australia stranded

A group of defence experts says that the Albanese government is on course for a financial and strategic AUKUS disaster, in the final part of an exclusive series.
www.afr.com www.afr.com

Regards,
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I'm waiting for the question/statement of whether "is Australia for sale". Always thought we would look good as the 51st state and now Australia along with Greenland are the beachheads then perhaps we can get a good price... ;) Would certainly help the failing $...
 
I'm waiting for the question/statement of whether "is Australia for sale". Always thought we would look good as the 51st state and now Australia along with Greenland are the beachheads then perhaps we can get a good price... ;) Would certainly help the failing $...
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The dollar is heading to 50 without any help, the US can have proxy battle with China and have no issues just like Ukraine.

Everything will be getting launched from Aus. That's where all the cruise missiles, and the like will be heading.

Not the US.

All a mess really.

Regards,
 
I find it amusing when people get all upset about a lower currency. They obviously are not involved with any export related business.
 
Economics 101

When your largest trading partner, China, demand has dropped it does not matter what your FX rate is.

Regards,
 
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Regardless of how much support there is for AUKUS in the US, the fact is that the necessary investments in the submarine industrial base are not being made. Sub construction is falling further and further behind schedule. If investments aren't made to expand production and shipyard capacity during this next administration, I don't think the Virginias for Australia will exist.
 
Halcyon66 said:
www.globaltimes.cn

Is Australia willing to serve as a ‘beachhead’ for the US? - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

https://twitter.com/x/status/1879573062896820287
View: https://x.com/globaltimesnews/status/1879573062896820287


Great news....................not.

Regards.
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That opinion post and ones like it keep forgetting that Australia was the one initiated the Treaty. This was not something foisted upon Australia. It also has support of both main sides of politics in Australia. It has also not been an election issue.
 

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