“France has nuclear submarines, but the deal with Australia was for diesel powered submarines. They cost less but operationally they are not as quiet as nuclear submarines and they cannot continue to sail for as as many miles at one time as a nuclear sub can.”
Mmm. Diesel subs can be quieter than nuc boats because the pumps on the nuc boats have to run constantly and even the best of them generate noise. Diesel subs can be quieter when they’re running on batteries only.
The real dynamic in the Pacific is that Australia’s planned diesel boats were going to augment a littoral navy. The Aussies switching to nuc boats means that in a dust up the Aussies can kill Chicom warships in Chinese waters. That’s a big change for the Aussies because instead of having an in-depth defensive capability they will now have an in-depth offensive capability.
In a future war that means China can be hit directly by Australian forces.
The next thing that needs to happen in the Pacific is to outfit Taiwan with a few hundred/thousand intermediate range ballistic missiles capable of destroying hard targets in China.