re: #249 Rightwingconspirator

That news is going to cause a lot of fallout, in the non-radioactive sense. Basically the Australians can’t build nuclear hunter/killer subs from scratch in any realistic timescale, however to get the sale through the Aussie government will want most of the construction done in local shipyards i.e. localisation.

The original replacement for the ageing Australian Collins-class subs was going to be a non-nuclear version of a French nuclear hunter-killer sub called the Shortfin Barracuda. It was a technical abortion to start with, very expensive and the localisation process wasn’t going well even after the contract was signed over five years ago. This collaboration sounds like the Australians will get to build the hull based on a British Astute or American Virginia design with the reactors and other sparkly bits coming from the nation that provides the hull blueprints. Training and operations workups will initially come from the US and UK, possibly on a Lend-Lease basis where the Aussies rent some existing nuclear boats and senior crew while their own-build hulls are under construction and being fitted out.

Expect the local Aussie population to go ballistic, in the non-radioactive sense, over this. A number of other nations in the area, like New Zealand are even more opposed to nuclear-powered naval ships operating in the area.