Originally Posted by
Asturias56
"The current proposal to base a couple of Astute in Australia "
Out of a current force of four? and three more due to arrive over quite a long time? The RN have always said they needed at least 7 for current ops.
I don't think there's an actual proposal to base a couple in Perth. That's far more likely to be a case of people adding 2+2 and getting 5.
However - it's not so long ago that visits of nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed warships to Australia were forbidden. ISTR Invincible (or possibly Lusty) having some real issues around that on a round the world tour in the mid to late 80s when she had a propulsion casualty and needed dry-docking. Not sure how many other kettle-powered ships have visited since then, although the policy is long-since defunct.