Posted on 02/06/2011 7:49:49 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Nuclear subs buy floated
Brendan Nicholson
From: The Australian February 07, 2011 12:00AM
AUSTRALIA could buy 10 of the latest nuclear attack submarines from the US for much less than it would cost to build 12 conventional replacements for the Collins-class boats, says the Kokoda Foundation think tank. Foundation founder Ross Babbage said the submarines could operate with US boats sharing an Australian naval base and they could be maintained by US nuclear experts.
Dr Babbage, a member of the government's advisory panel for the 2009 Defence white paper, told The Australian 10 of the US Navy's new Virginia-class attack submarines could be bought and equipped for a total of $28 billion.
While the white paper called for 12 new conventional subs, it gave no estimate of their likely cost. But Andrew Davies, of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has calculated that they would cost about $36bn and that figure has not been challenged by the government.
In the past, apart from political and social objections to nuclear power, key submarine experts have dismissed the idea of Australia opting for nuclear subs because of an expected high cost and because the nation has no nuclear industry to repair and maintain them.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. .End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Dr Babbage said a dramatic step, such as taking this nuclear option, was necessary as evidence emerged of China's rapidly increasing military power.
"Australia needs to consider purchasing 10-12 of the United States' latest nuclear powered attack submarines in order to balance, offset and deter the dramatic expansion of China's military capabilities," he said.
"China's massive military build-up is clearly designed to force the US and its allies out of the western Pacific.
"Key Australian security interests are being challenged."
A combined force of Australian and US nuclear submarines sharing a base in Australia would send a very strong message to China's military leaders, he said.
At the AUSMIN talks between Australian and US defence and foreign affairs ministers in Melbourne last year, the two governments
Ping!!
It would be a good deal for both of us.
Aint that the truth.....stay safe !
Heh! you too. Nice to see ya around.
I don’t see any need to ask the russians, maybe inform them. The russians don’t ask for our permission to sell subs or carriers to countries like China or India or Venezuela or Iran.
great post.
Can Electic Boat and Newport News expand their production to handle the additional orders? Or would building the Australian boats cause a slowdown in U.S. deliveries?
Australia’s attitudes toward nuclear power have been changing over the last decade or so. It’s still not exactly a popular idea but it’s no longer something that can’t be seriously considered.
The current (Labor) government would have to change its attitude but that is now possible - the conservative opposition already contains large numbers of supporters for the basic idea.
It’s one area in which all the ‘climate change’ rhetoric is working for us - when compared to brown coal power plants emissions, nuclear starts to look more attractive.
We don’t have nuclear power here, but we’ve been operating a single reactor for over fifty years now (HIFAR from 1958 to 2007, now replaced by OPAL) less than 20 miles from the centre of Sydney without incident - most people are now convinced it’s pretty safe.
Great News, our ship yards could use the work, and civilian Nuclear power would be good for OZ.
See this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2669162/posts
Maybe I should have palced /s at the end.
I think they’d be better off asking Britain for some Astute Class subs, they’re the latest and most advanced subs anywhere in any navy right now. BAE Systems already has a branch in Australia as well. I would have no hesitation in supporting a policy of giving the RAN Astute Subs at cost, and building facilities and training Australian engineers to maintain them.
I think we owe you chaps something for when we let Ted ‘fat bastard’ Heath screw you over with the EU thing back in the 70s...
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