Built under contract by the French Naval Group company, the original contract in 2016 promised 90 per cent of construction would be in Australia. The Attack-class has faced problems since its inception, due to it being an adapted conventional design of a French nuclear submarine. It is, therefore, likely this decision to scrap the Attack-class in favour of nuclear submarines was motivated by both strategic considerations and contractual issues. Australia is the only country, since Great Britain in 1958, to be given access to American nuclear submarine propulsion technology. Under the new agreement, Australia would now be able to gain access to anechoic tile technology. Anechoic tiles, which are intended to reduce the noise signature of a submarine to sonar detection and are fitted to US and British nuclear submarines, were denied because of a bilateral nuclear technology transfer agreement. It is also a significant moment due to the USA and Britain’s prior opposition to transferring anechoic tiles for the Collins-class submarine. The joint US-British decision to offer nuclear submarine technology would give Australia a submarine with virtually infinite range, and greater survivability and lethality in comparison to conventionally-powered vessels. Australia’s current submarine fleet will likely be replaced by eight American off-the-shelf (OTS) nuclear-propelled submarines, potentially the Virginia-class submarine, infused with British and US technology. The Morrison government’s decision to scrap the $90 billion program to build 12 Attack-class submarines and pursue nuclear-propelled vessels will drastically improve Australia’s maritime prowess. Replacing the Attack-class with a nuclear-propelled submarine also signals a new regional challenge to China. The demise of the Attack-class submarine paves the way for greater Anglosphere maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
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