I'm sure the RAN would be drooling at the thought of the Virginia class but $2.8bn versus $2.4bn per unit for the Astute
https://news.usni.org/2021/08/11/rep...ck-submarine-3
Report to Congress on Navy SSN(X) Next-Generation Attack Submarine
The Navy wants to begin procuring a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN), called the Next-Generation Attack Submarine or SSN(X), in FY2031. The SSN(X) would be the successor to the Virginia-class SSN design, which the Navy has been procuring since FY1998…..
Since FY2011, Virginia-class SSNs (Figure 1) have been procured at a rate of two boats per year, and a total of 34 have been procured through FY2021.
Most Virginia-class boats procured in FY2019 and subsequent years are to be built with the Virginia Payload Module (VPM), an additional, 84-foot-long, mid-body section equipped with four large-diameter, vertical launch tubes for storing and launching Tomahawk cruise missiles or other payloads.
When procured at a rate of two boats per year, VPM-equipped Virginia-class SSNs have an estimated procurement cost of about $3.4 billion per boat.…..