Picking the right design for the Royal Australian Navy’s nuclear-powered submarines is extraordinarily complex and difficult choices will need to be made. There are two contenders, the Royal Navy’s Astute-class submarine and the US Navy’s …
‘Whatever is done well enough is done quickly enough.’ — Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD) Iran’s leadership is made up of extreme religious fundamentalists. It is the most sanctioned government in the world—following decades …
Negotiations between Iran and the United States on Iran’s nuclear activities are set to resume on 29 November. But while many will welcome this development, they should bear in mind that the talks are unlikely …
Iran has agreed to recommence negotiations aimed at the US rejoining and fully restoring the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) in Vienna on 29 November. But it hasn’t discounted …
The first week of Glasgow’s COP26 climate summit is over, and we have seen a number of countries make landmark promises to help mitigate the effects of climate change. ASPI’s Robert Glasser and Anastasia Kapetas …
A multi-disciplinary taskforce is recruiting ‘Australia’s sharpest minds’ to tackle the herculean task of providing the Royal Australian Navy with eight nuclear-powered submarines, acquiring the technical skills the nation doesn’t yet have to maintain them, …
In the first post in this series, I considered the structure of the safety regimes needed to independently audit the Royal Australian Navy’s procedures and training to operate a nuclear-powered submarine (SSN), along with the …
In my last post, I explained the need for dual lines of responsibility for nuclear safety, with civilian authorities answerable to a minister other than the minister for defence to provide a degree of independence …
The agreement for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) is the most significant part of the recent AUKUS announcement. The offer of assistance from the United Kingdom and the United States to acquire this …
In my previous post, I looked at some of the issues involved in the Royal Australian Navy acquiring or leasing older nuclear-powered attack submarines from the UK to jump-start Australia’s own SSN program. In summary, …
In case you’ve just arrived from Mars, the Australian government has announced it will acquire, with the assistance of the United States and United Kingdom, a fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) that will be …
The first of anything is expensive. Theodore Wright studied this in the 1930s and found a mathematical relationship between how many of a thing have been made and how much cheaper and faster production becomes. …