China’s newest N-sub near Taiwan
The Chinese Navy’s (PLAN) latest submarine, which was only commissioned in July, is based in their East Sea Fleet. This fleet faces off against...
French warning on N-sub task
One of France's most senior defence figures is warning Australia that acquiring nuclear submarines will be "much more difficult" than the now scrapped plan...
N-subs: managing the capability gap
By Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Nicholls*
In a previous piece, we examined the broad schedule of Australia’s capability transition from conventional submarines to nuclear-powered submarines...
Extending US N-subs’ life
On June 4, the US Navy laid the keel for USS District of Columbia, the first of its new Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines, at...
New Government and submarine program
By Dr John Bruni and CDRE Pat Tyrrell OBE RN (Ret’d)*
Australia made international headlines when it agreed to the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal. But,...
N-sub program could run till 2060s
By Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Nicholls*
In our most recent article, we argued that the Australian government should widen the aperture of the lens through which...
Plugging the n-sub gap
Defence Minister Richard Marles has not ruled out buying ready-made nuclear submarines to plug the gap in Australia’s defence capabilities, as he sought to...
IAEA wants more work on n-subs
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has warned there is a lot of technical work to be done before Australia's AUKUS submarine...
Broader approach to undersea warfare
By Marcus Hellyer*
The hottest topic in Australia’s defence community right now is how to develop the Royal Australian Navy’s submarine capability. The decision to...
Building overseas best n-sub option
By Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Nicholls*
In our previous post, we considered the likelihood of the US providing Australia with Virginia-class submarines this decade. Doing so would...