BAE Systems, Raytheon Australia, General Dynamics Mission Systems and Thales said they would work collaboratively to design a tri-national command system as a "shared solution for Australia and the UK which builds on General Dynamics' existing AN/BYG-1 system" used by the US.
"The spend, still seven years or so from the first Australian-flagged nuclear submarine, already has the submarine arm of the ADF on its way to becoming a fourth service: this newcomer is outpacing the Army, Air Force and surface Navy in its spending, complexity and risk," the report's summary notes.
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
"As our strategic environment degrades, it's only smart to increase our warstocks," Marcus Hellyer, a top Australian defense procurement expert, told Breaking Defense.
"The Albanese Government must not continue to treat the Australian public as bystanders in our own security dialogue, and repackaging or dusting off old announcements is borderline offensive," Elizabeth Buchanan, a senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told Breaking Defense.
The Chinese military itself wasn't free from drama, as Beijing cycled through defense ministers and senior officials fell under investigation.
"Early indications are that the 3 countries are missing an opportunity to craft a shared defense export control framework devoid of the well-understood structural problems associated with the ITAR," the US Studies Centrre report's authors write.
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
"Nothing in this treaty has changed the known level of risk for what is an ambitious project. In some respects, the agreement of the treaty-level document between the three countries can be interpreted as a risk reduction measure," Australian naval expert Jennifer Parker said.
"We're a long way down that path and really, that's the thing that we need to [figure out] first," Richard Marles, Australia's deputy prime minister and defense minister, told Breaking Defense.
“This new contract further ensures these workers have certainty in Australia’s national naval shipbuilding and sustainment enterprise, and helps to grow the workforce required to build and sustain Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarines,” Sen. Katy Gallagher, the Finance Minister, said.
Separately Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said, "We need that infrastructure on the west coast and so it's going to be really important to put that in place... . We have some time in order to do it, but not a lot of time."
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
Part of the shakeup includes tens of billions for nuclear-powered subs, and halting the pricey procurement of an additional F-35 fighter jet squadron.
"We’re already making good progress on the design and development of the next generation submarine in the UK, where we have more than 1,000 people working on the SSN-AUKUS program and major infrastructure investment underway," BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said.
"So I know people are frustrated, but the defence budget is increasing. Money is flowing to defence industry to deliver capable projects, critical capabilities," Pat Conroy, minister for defense industry, said.
A Navy official recently said the service had spent at least $200 million on a partnership with a non-profit company to help cultivate the submarine industrial base.