Unfortunately the prediction in the previous podcast that the Trump administration will continue down the path of being an unreliable security partner is proving to be correct. US politics is swerving in a dangerous direction of dismantling many aspects of how a government functions – a process that has historical roots. Practical manifestations are things like on the one hand approving the sale of weapons to Ukraine, but on the other hand severely limiting how they can be used.
The results of the Elbridge Colby revenue into AUKUS are expected by late November – and we predict that the sale of second-hand nuclear submarines will only go ahead if Australia can meet certain conditions, such as lifting Defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.
Finally some speculation about why the Mogami frigate wasn’t selected for SEA 3000 two years ago since it’s now apparent it was always the preferred choice of the RAN. Could it be that two years ago only the basic Mogami was under construction but by delaying the decision until now the upgraded version is under contract meaning the Navy will get a much bigger ship with twice the number of VLS cells than the ship of 2023?
To listen to the podcast, click here.
For Editorial Inquiries Contact:
Editor Kym Bergmann at kym.bergmann@venturamedia.net
For Advertising Inquiries Contact:
Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at simon.hadfield@venturamedia.net
Marles has now flown to the US but doesn’t have any meetings with Hegseth actually locked in.
There’s no one at the wheel here or there.
Correct. But no matter what, he will announce at the end of the visit that AUKUS is in great shape because it has bipartisan support in Congress.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic/expensive
This whole AUKUS shambles is a disgrace. The so called Geelong Treaty, which I assumed was an agreement between the U.K and Australia to co design the AUKUS Submarine, is looking like a way for Australia to ditch the AUKUS boat and buy more Virginias. I can not stress how much I think buying Virginias (even if the U.S. was capable of producing enough of them) is a bad idea. Apart from the Crewing issue, the disposal of spent fuel rods and the probable strings attached to their use, the Virginia is not the boat Australia needs. While conceding that in the vast open waters of the Indian Ocean they would be able to manoeuvre and hunt quite successfully but what about through the Island chains to the North, the shallower waters Around our Coastline.
The Mogami circus will roll on and it will be interesting to see if construction actually proceeds as planned in 2026 or yet more political BS delays things.
Canada has just shortlisted 2 options for its submarine project – one which is the KSS-III which I still believe that we should be ordering as,at the very least, an interim class of boats to replace the Collins class until such time as we either receive the supposed Virginia class boats, start receiving the AUKUS boats or we finally realise that someone has sold us the Sydney Harbour bridge and we are not actually getting anything. I believe that South Korea is looking into developing their own so maybe one day that might be an option.
I see that there may be some movement in the return to service of the Supply Class replenishment ships so it would be great to see an update on that but moving forward we need to be looking at procurement of additional ships in order to ensure that this doesn’t happen again and we are forced to rely on other countries for support but think we should look at options other than the Navantia design.