Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday announced Australia will build a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines in Adelaide. This is how Australia plans to do it:
announced in September 2021Australia’s current fleet of diesel-electric Collins-class submarines is due to start going out of service in 2038 and the nuclear-powered boats were always unlikely to arrive until the 2040s, so the nation faced a massive capability gap.This will now be addressed by Australia buying three of the US’s existing Virginia-class submarines from the early 2030s, at a cost of between $50 billion and $58 billion, with an option to buy an extra two.
By the mid-2060s, Australia plans to have built eight of the submarines in Adelaide’s Osborne Naval Shipyard.The submarine, which will have a lifetime of more than 30 years, is expected to be heavier than both Britain’s current class of Astute and the US’s Virginia class. Now, Australia believes it needs to operate its submarines much further from home, both as a way to deter China from aggression and to sink ships and other submarines in a potential war.The cost
But the government estimates the nuclear submarine program will need 20,000 jobs over the next 30 years including in the Australian Defence Force, domestic industry and the Australian public service. As early as 2027, Britain and the US plan to establish a permanent rotation of one UK Astute-class submarine and up to four US Virginia-class submarines at the HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth.
However, Canberra has committed to managing all radioactive waste generated from the submarines, including spent nuclear fuel, in Australia.The nation’s six Collins-class submarines are all scheduled to undergo full rebuilds – called a life-of-type extension – at a cost of $6 billion.
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