An effective deterrent against China’s military, according to a former Pentagon official in charge of China relations, could be the deployment of hard-to-track submarines near China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula.
Australia’s Submarines Make Waves in Asia Long Before They Go to Sea
Mr. Thompson, now a visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore, declared, “The Middle East wars have ended.”
I believe we’re in the midst of an interwar period in which there will be a major conflict between the United States and a near-peer rival, probably involving China, and taking place in Northeast Asia.
The Chinese government hasn’t said much since last week, when it denounced the submarine agreement.
Even so, China’s leaders and military planners will be sure to consider military and diplomatic countermeasures, including new ways to punish Australian exports, which have already been subjected to bans and punitive tariffs as relations have deteriorated in the past few years.
It is possible for Beijing to speed up efforts to develop technologies for detecting and destroying nuclear-powered submarines long before they are delivered to Australia.
The majority of experts believe that a technological race rather than a global arms race is more likely. China is already churning out new naval vessels and fighter aircraft at a rapid pace. In terms of anti-submarine defences, it falls short.
Officials in China could step up regional opposition to the submarine plan and the new AUKUS security group for Australia, the UK, and the US in the near future.
This also makes China think, ‘Well, I better get ahead of this’,” Elbridge Colby, a former Trump administration deputy assistant secretary of defence, said. To paraphrase him, “If Australia takes this big step,” the rest of the world will be able to follow suit.
Australia’s Submarines Cost and Design in 2023
Richard Marles, Australia’s minister of defence, has stated that the country’s plan to acquire nuclear submarines is “taking shape,” with crucial choices on which ship to use, how to build it, and how to strengthen the country’s defense-industrial capability coming within the next few months.
Marles, speaking on the first anniversary of the Aukus accord, claimed that nuclear subs would make “the rest of the world take us seriously,” equating the advanced technology with Australia’s commercial and economic success.
The most effective plan of action is taking form. We’re finally getting some glimmers of it,” he remarked. In addition to submarines, “Aukus has a tremendous potential for pursuing a bigger and more ambitious agenda.”
British Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine HMS Astute.
Whether the United States or the United Kingdom will provide the new submarines for Australia is still up in the air.
The Aukus deal was a military agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States that was announced by Australian prime minister Scott Morrison on 15 September 2021.
Australia has acquired highly secretive technology for creating nuclear submarines as part of the arrangement, which also involves collaboration on quantum computing and cyberwarfare.
Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister, stated that preliminary procedures toward the acquisition of nuclear submarines were proceeding as planned. He told reporters this week that the current roadmap has initial announcements from Australia scheduled for the first part of 2023.
Final Words
By then, the government hopes to have addressed the following five concerns: the final design, the timeframe for acquisition, the capability gap that timeline will generate and solutions to close it, the cost, and the extent to which Australia’s plans conform with nuclear non-proliferation duties.
While we don’t have a firm number yet, the price tag for the submarine project is likely to be in the tens of billions. Marles connected the Aukus deal with both national and commercial safety by arguing that a stronger submarine force would ensure unhindered passage across strategic waterways.
