jeffb
ACCESS: Top Secret
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I'd say the whole problem of whether or not previous Australian governmental or military studies thought nuclear submarine construction was practical or not is rather moot since at that time the USA and UK were adamantly against giving such technology and now they are not.
Infrastructure can be built, people can be trained, certification can be gained. If there is will and enough cash it can happen.
Just sharing the technology doesn't fix the problem though. Australia's going to have to build a nuclear industry capable of handling weapons grade fuel to give themselves a truly sovereign capability. They have to be able to fix them or refuel them if they break or get used up too soon. If they don't have that ability they're effectively just operating a SSN flotilla that's been loaned to Australia, at a staggering cost.
Sure. Defence estimated about 15 years to achieve a nuclear industry capable of building nuclear subs, though that will be significantly less with assistance. The additional infrastructure cost will probably wind up being a big deal too, it'll be in addition to whatever the boats cost.Infrastructure can be built, people can be trained, certification can be gained. If there is will and enough cash it can happen.
3,024 submariners would equal enough to crew 22 Virginias, or 11 if you were running Blue/Gold teams.
Either way its a bit vague and sounds like an overstated figure.
The claimed source is Australia's Dept of Defence but I don't know how they came to that figure. Doubtless it includes training and "spares". Until it's shown otherwise we've no reason to doubt it though.
EDIT: I'd assume Australia's Dept of Defence would have contacted the US Navy to get an idea of numbers.
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