Posted on 03/10/2023 6:22:18 PM PST by george76
Deal is set to be announced at meeting of Biden and leaders of Australia and U.K.
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The U.S. will speed up Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines by arranging for Canberra’s first few subs to be built in the U.S.
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The plan to sell up to five U.S. Virginia-class submarines to Australia is intended as a stopgap to provide the country with nuclear-powered subs by the mid-2030s.
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The alliance is called Aukus, an acronym for Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. In addition to collaborating on nuclear-submarine technology, the countries intend to cooperate on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, hypersonic missiles and undersea technologies
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Nuclear-powered submarines are far more capable than their conventional counterparts because they can operate stealthily underwater over great distances and long periods. The nuclear-powered subs for Australia would only carry conventional weapons.
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Australia has six diesel-electric Collins-class subs, but they will be phased out in coming years. Under the Aukus plan, Australia is expected to buy at least eight nuclear-powered subs.
The Virginia-class submarines that Australia would buy might be a mix of attack submarines already operated by the U.S. and ones that would be manufactured from scratch.
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The Aukus deal has been controversial among some U.S. lawmakers because it would provide submarines to Australia that would otherwise have gone to the U.S. Navy, which has been struggling to boost its own fleet of attack subs.
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Building a nuclear submarine is a lengthy process. Though the Navy has budgeted for two attack submarines a year, the U.S. had been producing them at the lesser rate of 1.5 annually during that period... It takes roughly six years to build a sub
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
My grandson works at Electric Boat. Says 2013...no way.
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