Australia looking at existing design to ‘accelerate’ delivery of nuclear-powered submarines

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Australia looking at existing design to ‘accelerate’ delivery of nuclear-powered submarines

By Anthony Galloway

October 27, 2021 — 3.49pm

Australia’s new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines would preferably be based on an existing design, Defence officials have revealed, as part of a plan to get the boats in the water before 2040 to avoid a massive gap in the nation’s maritime defences.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced last month it was dumping a $90 billion agreement with France to build conventionally powered submarines and would instead develop a nuclear-powered fleet with Britain and the United States under a new defence pact called AUKUS.

The move has led to concerns there will be a significant capability gap, with the first of the existing Collins-class submarines scheduled to go out of service from 2038 and the nuclear-propelled submarines potentially not coming on line until the 2040s.....read rest of article

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