Strategic Sense:Royal Australian Navy Goes Nuclear

The announcement on 15 September 2021 that tha US,UK and Australia have formed a new trilateral defence cooperation activity known as AUKUS is being seen as a geopolitical milestone as well as a military juggernaut.Central to the pact is the US and UK's promise to enable Australia to build a fleet of nuclear attack submarines.Over the next 18 months,consultations will take place to firm up the new trilateral security partnership,which is a cooperative effort by scientists,industry and defence forces to help achieve the construction of the new submarines in Adelaide,Australia.One of the most complex and technically demanding projects in the world,it is an historic step to alleviate unmet strategic needs in the Indo-Pacific Region caused by the rising ambitions of a Communist China,which appeaers to be on a neo-Maoist course of strident nationalism under the personality cult of General Secretary Mr.Xi Jinping.Besides building military installations in the disputed South China Sea,China has recently been curtailing civil liberties in Hong Kong and threatening Taiwan's independence.* Nuclear submarines have a far greater range and have higher speed than conventionally powered vessels.They can stay submerged for long periods of time,gathering critical intelligence- the unspoken capability of attack submarines.* Over the next 18 months,there will be a consultation period to review the programme,which is aimed at maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,ensuring that the lines of communication remain accessible to all. Besides the submarine,there will be efforts to maintain and expand the partners' knowledge and capabilities in the fields of cybernetics and artificial intelligence.* Former Director of National Intelligence Lieutenant General James Clapper,US Air Force Retired,told CNN: It's a very bold step for the Australian Government and people to take...given the dependence of Australia on China for its economy.It means better preparation for,God forbid,a hostile situation.More importantly,it means deterrence.* It's possible that the new submarine,using the American nuclear propulsion first shared with the UK for British attack submarines,may be based on the US Navy's Virginia-class attack submarine and/or the new British attack submarine design that is currently in work.BWX Technologies of Lynchburg,Virginia has manufactured US Navy nuclear propulsion components since the 1950s.* The programme signals another milestone in the renewed focus on great power competition.* General Dynamics (GD),Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII),BAE Systems (OTCM:BAESF),BWX Technologies Inc (BWXT)