Legislation has now passed the US Congress putting in place a framework for AUKUS Pillar One. Does this mean that Australia will be acquiring second hand Virginia class submarines? No, it does not. In fact some of the wording is so vague that a future US President could cancel the deal on a personal whim. Secondly, the industrial mobilisation problems are vast – and thirdly if anyone says AUKUS is safe from political changes because of bipartisan support in the US then they must be on drugs. Currently, US military aid to both Israel and Ukraine is being held hostage to demands from Republicans to fund the wall with Mexico – and Australia is no different. Also a lot of nonsense has been spoken about Virginias – they are not the best SSNs in the world. There are at least two other designs that are better. Finally – helicopters. What a travesty that Australia will spend $11 billion on previous generation machinery, without scrutiny, just to keep a handful of Army officers happy.

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