AUKUS News, Views, Analysis.

Suppose everything went absolutely perfectly and Australia gets everything it was promised on time and on budget, best case scenario is a couple of years' worth of Huludao's production some time around the middle of the century. What does anyone think that does for Australia? What sort of PLAN SSN fleet does the RAN think it'd be facing then?

AUKUS is strategic virtue signaling, a bellwether for the US's commitment to Anglo-Saxon solidarity. Given the exorbitant price tag, it's tribute paid to an increasingly mercurial United States for Australia's protection.

ZeEa5KPul said:

AUKUS is strategic virtue signaling, a bellwether for the US's commitment to Anglo-Saxon solidarity. Given the exorbitant price tag, it's tribute paid to an increasingly mercurial United States for Australia's protection.

Click to expand...

The irony is that, because of Australia's geography, the only reason they'd need protection in the first place is their blind alignment with the US. I'm really surprised that the people of Australia don't make a huge stink about this, but I guess they're just that susceptible to propaganda.

4Tran said:

The irony is that, because of Australia's geography, the only reason they'd need protection in the first place is their blind alignment with the US. I'm really surprised that the people of Australia don't make a huge stink about this, but I guess they're just that susceptible to propaganda.

Click to expand...

I would attribute the populace’s attitude to racism. They think they are part of the Anglo-Saxon Empire and whites should stay on top the world.

vincent said:

They think they are part of the Anglo-Saxon Empire and whites should stay on top the world.

Click to expand...

Not whites, WASPs. They certainly don't think Italians should be on top of the world.

vincent said:

I would attribute the populace’s attitude to racism. They think they are part of the Anglo-Saxon Empire and whites should stay on top the world.

Click to expand...

It's one thing to be racist, and it's quite another to be happy with your government blowing tens of billions of dollars on a white elephant. The fact that the Australians may never even get said white elephant is only the cherry on top.

I see this all the time where Australians talk about why they need AUKUS. It's always "we need it to protect our sovereignty", and I'm always left waiting for the followup question to be "No really, why do we need AUKUS?" Ironically, the fact that the Australians can't be honest about tackling this question is also why they can never implement a solution.

The military procurement order of operations is supposed to be:
1. Identify a need.
2. Figure out what can best satisfy that need.
3. Develop a plan for implementing solution.
4. Put money into acquiring gear, etc. for the solution.

AUKUS is basically Australia skipping a bunch of steps, and jumping directly into the giving away money part.