...make sure these aren't the ones with screen doors (beware Chinese sabotage): "Trump Backs Selling Submarines to Australia Under AUKUS Agreement".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
...make sure these aren't the ones with screen doors (beware Chinese sabotage): "Trump Backs Selling Submarines to Australia Under AUKUS Agreement".
So long as our enemies are polite enough to postpone invasion for a generation, we'll be fine.
ReplyDeleteHell, we might even have intelligent government by then!
I know a guy who works with subs for the navy and always joked that he was the guy who designed the screen doors; if I knew what he really did he'd probably have to shoot me.
ReplyDeleteIt was almost me too at a place outside Albany, NY.
DeleteIt was between me and one other guy, but he got laid off from GE and had a family.
I blame NY pols taxing GE out of the state. I had like 3 interviews, I think I was in the lead.
The ones with screen doors went to Italy.
The new ones have glass bottoms.
I spent 5 years working as a civilian technical officer for the Australian Department of Navy in the early 1980's. It was when the USA sold us the venerable Mk48 torpedo system.
ReplyDeleteI have a little bit of knowledge that is still relevent.
We have 6 ageing Collins Class diesel subs that will need to go within the next 10 years. We have a massive coastline. The Collins subs struggle with the large distances and refuelling logistics.
The AUKUS treaty involves giving Australia access to the US nuclear powerplant with a view to build our own subs but this is a distant pipedream.
I think what is more realistic is that we will buy some end of life Virginias or at a stretch, Los Angeles class subs to get us over a gap in capability in the early 2030's.
The jewel in the crown for the US and UK is that we will have port facilities with trained personel to service and re-arm both their subs.
There are already about 200 Australians working in Pearl
Harbour and Norfolk. This will increase to around 500 in the next few years.
I hope I live long enough to see the first nuke underway. Please note that will will not have nuclear weapons, just conventional, unless you accidently leave some in the boats.
Mick, the way I heard it, the CC subs struggled with more than just distance and refueling. The software was a labyrinth of options and menus, and at one stage the steering of these hugely expensive war machines was managed with a cheapo joystick unit from Dick Smith.
Delete