The very day AUKUS was announced, French naval shipyards got a letter in the morning from the Australian government, stating that everything was fine and that they were happy with the process, ready to move forward to the next step. If that's not duplicity, tell me what it is.
This letter does exist, and will be published quite soon.
Brace for it.
Feeling the uncertain ground, now the Anglo-Saxons resort to jokes and pleasant words like "
give my a break" "
we understand your frustration".... "
it's already behing us"
Anyway, we will all have white beards when the first Aussie SSN sails out of Darwin or anywhere else. Will be probably a second-hand USN something, with a sealed nuclear compartment under US control, and a bunch of crew with double passports, as it so commonly happens. But if it does suit them, who cares after all ?
Just for information, the day after AUKUS was announced, the Australian technicians and families in France were already packing their stuff, ready to leave - as in the Anglo-Saxon world, you can get banned immediately from your office and a company the day you are no longer needed. Nothing like that in Cherbourg - they were told by the management that they had French contracts, and that therefore they were still welcome and that a solution was going to be found for them - probably remaining Naval Group employees, in Cherbourg or somewhere else. A sharp contrast to the treatment they are getting from their own government....
For those expressing their unhappiness about French "colonialism " in the Pacific, I suggest they dig a little bit more in their Aborigin and Maori history...
When flying to Auckland, a regional F/O told me that he had been to Noumea once, and that great, "
it was looking like France"
Therefore it was my pleasure to say "
yes, of course, because IT IS
France" - like it or not.
And suddely India is very interested in French SSN - so strange - to complement their current squadron of French-made Scorpene classic subs.
Why not, there is more potential, future and brain in 1/20 of India than in the whole Oz. And everybody knows that.
By the way, I flew Jaguars in the RAF. Your move.
Fifth "Scorpene" for Indian Navy. Who needs Oz ?