Originally Posted by
Asturias56
Even based out of Darwin a conventional sub will only reach as far as Mindanao max - not even as far N as Guam or as far west as Singapore. Of course most people have no real idea just how far China is away from Australia. Finland is closer to China than Australia is.
You'd have to have basing agreements with Indonesia and IIRC they are dead set against foreign bases of any sort
Why does Australia require any greater range than that? When I served there, it was called a defence force, was there a name change we are not privy to?
If Australia is asked to be a party to a contingent somewhere, then that presumably involves the logistics of local basing to do so. Say the RAN is asked to defend Barking Sands, presumably the local facilities would be available. If it is asked to support activity in the straits of Hormuz, then again, Dodge would probably be available, and darn, it has some good burgers there. It is unlikely that the Australian PM is going to wake up with a rush of blood to the head and go and declare that the Malvinas have to surrender unconditionally to Canberra. Not even Western Samoa, unlikely even Fiji, and NZL, well, since the underarm bowling incident, it is not so open to the affections of its cuzn's. As Surfers and Sydneys eastern burbs are predominantly NZ'ers, the kiwis would like nothing more than the opportunity to have a welfare handout from the grate southern land (not my opinion; the rhetoric that was passed in years gone by that avoided doing the math on the economic benefits of C.E.R.).
I'd actually support an effort to pillage and plunder the supply of biltong from the far side of the I.O., curse you Southern Africa for my addiction to biltong. It remains one of the greatest exports from Africa that doesn't have a "MADE BY DENEL" sticker on the outside.
Exactly who is the enemy that is considered under AUKUS? China? They increase their sphere of influence by being able to actually afford to bribe South Pacific island nations with Yuan, and RMB, while Australia's population objects to national aid and foreign assistance to its neighbours as being a waste. Either way, there is a cost, either in assistance or in defence posture if having PLAN boats moored in the Solomons is offending our sense of order. Being vigilant is not a bad thing, so the RQ-4 seems to be a reasonable proposition, but having a capital ship that becomes your whole defence force seems to be a risky proposition.
Submarines are a planners nightmare, as they have to be accounted for, whether they are there or not, so long as they exist somewhere. Might be the reason the Chinese took such efforts to establish submerged entry to their bases in SW Hainan.
Cocos Keeling apart from having bloody big crabs, has a great yacht club, x'lent harbours, and last time I checked, it still had an Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy sticker on the flag. Same for X'mas Island, which is actually a pretty cool plaice. Both have great beaches, and are close enough to close out the Straits of Malacca, without depleting all of the XXXX on board. If you are wanting to make friends with the PLAN as they covet thy neighbour, I would assume that Oz is unlikely to take on PRC by its lonesome self... so there is Guam, Naha, Yokosuka, Sasebo, Subic (still good for a steak), Viet Nam still has great ports, and brilliant Pho, and would probably not be averse to some presence if the SCS has gone rowdy, they have a history, like India of plinking with the PRC, and they have legitimate annoyances with the 7 dash, 9 dash, toilet dash whatever it is that the PLAN puts forth neglecting UNCLOS (but, given that team members within AUKUS seem to need remedial reading and comprehension classes when it comes to the UN Charter, and international law... hard to get too grumpy, after all, Chinese is quite a change from English so its hardly surprising that there are some inconsistencies with "compliance" with the rules that at one time it was though was a good idea to place into print).
With reports that the apparent adults in the room have been describing the tiff in Iran in terms of Armageddon, the scripture version, not the screen play with Bruce Willis & co, it all appears to be rather irrelevant; we may as well get out the popcorn, and marshmallows and watch the show that is being put on today, AUKUS or no AUKUS.
Collins boats have a range of 11,000nm, which is not shabby for a conventional tub without fleet support, what other countries does Oz really want to go pick a fight with?