“It’s partly long-lead items but it’s also partly working on those yards where our submarines will come out of for us,” Vice Adm. Jonathan Mead told Breaking Defense.
By Colin Clark“We have to analyse the world as it is rather than as we would want it to be. We have to bring our defense capabilities up to speed and AUKUS is central to that,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
By Colin ClarkThe United States, in a rare mention of nuclear weapons, “reaffirmed its steadfast alliance commitments to Japan and the ROK backed by the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear.”
By Colin ClarkA letter from key US lawmakers has raised concerns about the AUKUS plan down under.
By Colin ClarkRichard Marles disclosed the meeting, which was unplanned and took flight from a dinner the two men attended: “We’re sitting at the same table and we both agreed that it was important our two countries meet.”
By Colin ClarkInvitations may extend beyond US and UK in what Australian defense minister called a “new normal” of uncertainty in the Pacific.
By Colin ClarkAustralia’s ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, confirmed unequivocally that the “mature” submarines his country will buy will use highly enriched uranium: “The subs would be using HEU, and we’re just working out now the arrangements what that will mean in practice.”
By Colin ClarkAnalyst Tim Walton thinks it’d be wise for Australia to field other, complementary undersea warfare capabilities such as “the Transformational Reliable Acoustic Path System and mobile sensors such as Wave Gliders with towed arrays to inexpensively monitor straits and ocean areas.”
By Colin ClarkWhen Australia, the US and UK announced a new pacific-focused defense agreement last month, it was hard not to notice that the deal excluded the other two members of the Five Eyes intelligence agreement. Local media in Canada certainly seized on it to raise questions about Ottawa’s standing in the world. Bill Greenwalt, a member…
By Bill Greenwalt“This does not mean there are not constructive areas of engagement with China,” Australia Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Marise Payne said at the State Department today. She then noted that “US leadership within the Indo-Pacific remains indispensable.”
By Colin ClarkA US official called the move the “biggest strategic step Australia has taken in generations.”
By Aaron Mehta and Colin ClarkThe Hammerhead mine would be delivered to sites by underwater drones, and “detect, classify, and defeat” manned or unmanned submarines, the Navy says.
By Paul McLeary
Arthur Culvahouse Jr., who served as US Ambassador to Australia from 2019 to 2021, makes the case for why AUKUS needs to be the start, not the end, of strengthening industrial ties with the US.
By Arthur Culvahouse Jr.