Letters (contradictory of course) in todays Times:-
Sir, Britain does not have the capacity or effective leadership to provide the huge level of support required by Australia to build its own nuclear submarine fleet (“
PM strikes submarine deal to face new threat”, Mar 14). The performance of the Submarine Delivery Agency has been abysmal. Astute class submarines are being delivered late by BAE Systems; HMS Vanguard’s refit by Babcock has taken more than seven years; and none of our 22 decommissioned nuclear submarines has been dismantled, which is disgraceful. The in-service date for HMS Dreadnought was 2024 but is now the early 2030s. It is also astonishing that the new director-general (nuclear), Madelaine McTernan, has no previous nuclear expertise; nor did her predecessors, in spite of being responsible for submarine procurement, disposal and infrastructure. This collective failure of leadership has resulted in significant extra cost and loss of submarine availability. It appears that those advising the prime minister on Aukus have focused on the strategic benefits and economies of scale and not on the substantial risks of delivery, given the UK’s woeful performance and Australia’s lack of nuclear submarine expertise. This is not a winning combination. This UK and Australian element of Aukus is high risk for both countries. A bilateral-only agreement between the US and Australia would stand a far greater chance of success.
Rear Admiral (ret’d) Philip Mathias
UK director of nuclear policy 2005-08 and Trident value for money review 2010; Southsea, Hants
Sir, The Aukus deal is unusual in being a British defence project with virtually no downside. It sustains and develops Britain’s successful submarine industries, creates the potent sort of partnership that Brexit was meant to stimulate, and best of all Australia is paying for most of it. Of course, it might turn into Canberra’s HS2, but at least for now, it is an example of proper, multilateral strategic thinking. That said, it does not compensate for the bigger strategic hole in British defence policy regarding our own neighbourhood: Europe. The government cannot use Aukus as a glossy wrapper for underwhelming news on defence spending and the “refresh” of the 2021 integrated review. Our immediate security is at stake in the Ukraine war. Analysts follow the money, not the words. And not enough of it is being devoted to address this more immediate strategic hole in our defence policy.
Professor Michael Clarke
Director of the Royal United Services Institute 2007-15
Sir, Having served in Royal Navy submarines in Australia in the 1960s I am acutely aware of the exciting prospect of the introduction of the new fleet of submarines. However, I hope the navy and the MoD will take steps to discourage our submarine personnel from imitating our NHS personnel, who seem to be deserting Britain as soon as their training is complete. The attraction to a young person to a life in Western Australia is obvious, as my daughter, a consultant psychiatrist in Perth, will affirm.
Captain Richard Wraith RN
Former nuclear submarine CO; Tavistock, Devon
Sir, Whether we are doubling the size of our nuclear submarine fleet, or returning it to the size it was before successive defence cuts halved it, is possibly a matter of which eye the Nelsonian telescope is raised to.
Rear Admiral Ric Cheadle
Yelverton, Devon