Jingdong Yuan, a professor at the China Studies Center at the University of Sydney, estimates to TIME that it may even take longer than the proposed 10-year timeline for Australia to finally have a functional fleet of these nuclear-powered submarines. plans to increase nuclear-powered submarine port visits to Australia later in the year, while American and British undersea craft will have “rotational presence” in Perth, Western Australia as early as 2027 to help train the local force. troops in boats and in bases for training and development. “It’s gonna be a hard slog.”Īs part of the AUKUS pact, Biden said that Australian military and civil personnel will embed with U.S. You’re almost doubling that with the Astute and you’re going over 100 with the Virginia class,” says Thayer. “Australia’s current Collins-class have less than 50 crew members on them. Navy, and can carry out intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance missions, as well as fire torpedoes and cruise missiles.īut Thayer warns that procuring these nuclear-powered submarines isn’t going to be a simple process-considering Australia’s lack of nuclear technicians, a solid nuclear and shipbuilding industry, defense infrastructure, and trained personnel to man these ships. Fast attack submarines can be equipped with multiple payloads, according to the U.S. Navy, set to replace the older Los Angeles-class submarine fleet. The Virginia-class is the latest fast attack submarine in the U.S. In the past decade, several Australian governments tried to find ways to modernize the fleet, before settling with the AUKUS pact. and the U.K.Īustralia currently deploys a fleet of six conventional Collins-class diesel-powered submarines commissioned between 19. Many observers believe procuring nuclear-powered submarines will be momentous for Australia’s military might.Ĭarl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at the University of New South Wales-Canberra, tells TIME the submarines are a “game-changer” for Australia by giving its military long-range striking ability and making it more interoperable with the fleets of the U.S. “For the first time ever, it will mean three fleets of submarines working together across both the Atlantic and Pacific, keeping our oceans free, open and prosperous for decades to come.” A naval game-changer-eventually Australia acquiring a fleet of these vessels has been the centerpiece of the AUKUS partnership since it was announced in 2021, with the country having ditched an earlier deal with France for diesel-powered undersea craft. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982, the world’s first nuclear submarine went on exhibit in 1986 as the Historic Ship Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.Nuclear-powered submarines are considered superior because they can stay underwater longer currently only six countries have them. After a career spanning 25 years and almost 500,000 miles steamed, the Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. In its early years of service, the USS Nautilus broke numerous submarine travel records and in August 1958 accomplished the first voyage under the geographic North Pole. The uranium-powered nuclear reactor produced steam that drove propulsion turbines, allowing the Nautilus to travel underwater at speeds in excess of 20 knots. It could remain submerged for almost unlimited periods because its atomic engine needed no air and only a very small quantity of nuclear fuel. Much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that preceded it, the Nautilus stretched 319 feet and displaced 3,180 tons. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power on the morning of January 17, 1955. Truman, and on January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. In 1952, the Nautilus‘ keel was laid by President Harry S. Regarded as a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering the world’s first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine.
Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S. The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. The USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine, is commissioned by the U.S.
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