The conversation about acquiring nuclear-powered submarines continues to bubble along. Some commentators who previously supported acquiring conventional submarines to replace the current Collins class, such as former prime minister Tony Abbott, now favour the nuclear …
Originally published 26 October 2017. This post is adapted from a presentation to the Australian Naval Institute’s 2017 Goldrick seminar. Let me start with something nice and uncontroversial. Submarines might be obsolete by the middle …
This post is adapted from a presentation to the Australian Naval Institute’s 2017 Goldrick seminar. Let me start with something nice and uncontroversial. Submarines might be obsolete by the middle of the century. It’s possible …
I welcomed Andrew Davies’s critique of the Insight Economics report on the future submarine (PDF), of which I was the principal author. Davies substantially agrees with our findings about the major risks associated with the …
I was interested to see a new approach to submarine procurement pitched by Hugh White and Michael Keating last week. They got quite a bit of media coverage, as tends to be the case for …
For Australia to operate a fleet of nuclear submarines would require great resources and incur a huge expense, says United States Pacific Fleet commander Scott Swift. Any country pursuing nuclear-powered vessels, ships, aircraft carriers or …
Arguing the case for nuclear-powered submarines, Tony Abbott laments that, under plans to acquire French-designed conventional submarines, the RAN will take delivery of a class that: will have less power, less range, less speed and …
At the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) yard in Mumbai, ‘Venki’ Venkatesan is considered something of a tyrant. He’s the quality control manager and a key part of the team overseeing every tiny stage in …
Keeping the country safe is the first duty of government and should be the constant concern of those with responsibility for our well-being. But I worry that a decade or so hence, maybe sooner, Australia …
It’s hard to be confident that the project to replace the Collins-class submarines is in good shape. There is no reason to doubt that France makes very good submarines but there are many reasons to …
There have been a number of well-argued suggestions that Australia should introduce nuclear powered submarines (SSN) and, more recently, an emotive argument that a conventional submarine is not up to the task required by Australia’s …
I spoke on the subject of the deterrent value of submarines at the Submarine Institute of Australia annual conference yesterday. I was preaching to the choir with that crowd, but I’m often asked at public …
