Preparing to write this post, I read a bunch of different articles about our Navy and submarines, shipbuilding, and nuclear powered subs. The quote in the poster above sprang to my mind. We are so screwed.
Yesterday, Joe Biden stood with the Prime Ministers of Australia (Anthony Albanese) and the United Kingdom (Rishi Sunak) to announce a new submarine building plan called AUKUS (Austrlia/United Kingdom/United States). This deal will replace the deal Australia made with France and then reneged on. I suppose things between France and Australia are still a bit glacial after that. Here is a brief video on Biden’s remarks at Point Loma Naval Station:
If you wish to read the WHOLE statement, you may do so here. The best part was when Biden said:
Today, we’re announcing the steps to carry out our first project under AUKUS: developing Australia’s conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine capacity.
And I want to be clear — I want to be clear to everyone from the outset, right off the bat, so there’s no confusion or misunderstanding on this critical point: These subs are powered — not nuclear-armed subs. They’re nuclear-powered, not nuclear-armed.
Australia is a proud non-nuclear weapons state and has committed to stay that way. These boats will not have any nuclear weapons of any kind on them.
Biden: "These subs are powered, not nuclear-armed, subs. Nuclear powered, not nuclear armed. Australia’s a proud non-nuclear weapon state … These boats will not have any nuclear weapons of any kind of them" pic.twitter.com/9wm54hvaD6
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 13, 2023
They are nuclear powered but no nuclear weapons. I am sure the Aussie elites are happy but the Royal Australian Navy is worried that will have to try to lob a conventional weapon at the enemy before they get obliterated. The deal, according to the BBC, seems really complex:
Under the deal outlined on Monday, members of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) will be embedded at US and UK submarine bases from this year to gain the necessary skills to use the submarines.
From 2027, the US and UK will base a small number of nuclear subs at a RAN base in Perth, Western Australia, before Australia buys three American Virginia-class submarines in the early 2030s – with options to purchase two more.
After that, the plan is to design and build an entirely new nuclear-powered submarine for the UK and Australian navies, called SSN-AUKUS.
This attack craft will be built in Britain and Australia to a British design, but use technology from all three countries.
The interim and future boats will give Australia submarines which can travel further and faster than its existing fleet, with cruise missiles that could strike targets on land and at sea.
President Biden said all three countries were committed to ensuring that the region would remain free and open. He was flanked by the prime ministers of Australia and the UK – Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak, respectively.
“Forging this new partnership, we’re showing again how democracies can deliver our own security and prosperity… not just for us but for the entire world,” he said.
As part of Monday’s announcement, the US has also pledged a total of $4.6bn (£3.7bn) over the next few years to build its submarine construction capacity and to improve maintenance of its Virginia-class submarines.
Y’all have to help me out with this, but they are going to maintain the Virginia class subs, build new subs with slightly different moving pieces, and then collaborate on a completely new type of submarine. Did I get that right? I think so:
This is a hugely complex deal that comes with massive risks. 5 obvious ones are: 1) money may not be enough to solve the ongoing shipbuilding woes. If there is no dramatic increase in construction will Aus get its boats, and will they be on time? 10/https://t.co/mxarICJQKf
— Richard Dunley (@redunley) March 13, 2023
Maybe Australia was super busy harassing citizens on the beach during the Covid lockdowns and no one paid attention to what was going on here. I sincerely believe everyone involved in this process wants to do a GREAT job, but the U.S. Navy barely made its recruiting goals in FY 2022 and upped the cut-off for enlistment to 41 years of age. Those old knees are going to have a tough time in those submarine stairwells, just saying.
Mr. Dunley, in his tweet, mentioned the problems in the U.S. shipbuilding industry. They are:
The search for new shipyard workers must overcome the constant pressure for high school graduates to go to college, as well as the lack of experience in today’s youth in the kinds of skills the industry needs, a panel of shipyard officials and engineers told the American Society of Naval Engineers’ annual Technology, Systems & Ship symposium on Thursday.
Todd Hooks, general manager of BAE Systems Ship Repair yard in Jacksonville, Fla., said the average age of his workers is 55 and that his skilled managers are retiring. Workflow fluctuations at the yard only aggravate his hiring and retention. In recent years, Hooks had 2,200 workers coming through the gates, then months later was down to 1,500 workers, and then staffing needs would go back up as demand from the Navy fluctuated.
“We can’t have that. … We need a stable workforce,” Hooks said. The challenge of getting and keeping trained workers will only get harder as future ships and their combat systems grow more advanced and therefore need different skills to maintain and modernize them, he added.
And finally, but not a small thing, last summer our Nina told you how the Navy is more focused on proper pronoun use than battle readiness.
I want to ask our dear friends and comrades from across the pond and down under, are you really willing to take that chance. Your Navys could get infested with the same disease that affects ours. Do you want China laughing at you too? By the way, I think you should really go for the nuclear arms too.
Featured Image: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons
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