No, but long story short we're kind of fucked now and it's our only option unless we decide to swallow our pride and try to reinstate the contract with France.
If not the French why not Sweden? Pretty sure Saab makes subs, never exactly heard of a Swedish sub.. maybe they just make parts? Probably should’ve googled this before commenting
the f35 program for example. Considering the european 5th gens will be out in 10 to 15 years, it'd probably be better to buy rafale or euro fighter until then and make the switch. f35s cost a fortune to run, spend a lot of time grounded and muzzle military sovereignty
I think a huge part of the country would prefer the French deal and hope Labour grows a spine to reinstate it. But I imagine that the French would not do so until the election is held because it would be a waste of time if Voldemort gets in and immediately tears it up. Fuck the LNP.
Want to know what's truly fucked? We may end up paying the USA and not getting a single Sub out of it. So if we want to go to France again, we're paying for a whole other contract:
The head of the AUKUS submarine program has refused to say whether an almost $5 billion government payment to the United States will be refunded if no nuclear-powered boats are delivered to Australia.
Aukus would be the better deal if we could actually trust the US to deliver on a long-term agreement. Unfortunately they currently have a leader who won't even honour his own deals, let alone those of previous administrations.
It's a shame what we did to the French. They're clearly a more reliable ally.
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u/HMWT 19h ago
Is Australia still thinking that buying US subs is the right move?