Maybe Morgan were pioneers! :E Just about everything built these days is modular and moved, often between countries! Boeing, Airbus, Typhoon ..... this! Bits built everywhere then assembled somewhere else. They do fit together ...... usually!!!! :}

But I do get your drift! :ok:

but having to run it down Coronation Street :eek:

Surely in 60 years of building them in Barrow they could come up with a better route?

Works for Airbus……

If you know Barrow, you know.....

Trouble is all the heavy steel fab is by the old launch berths, some way away from DDH. Hence the road trip.....

First part is like saying if a 'right winger' says 1+1=2, we should just ignore them. What exactly is it about what ADMR Barrie has been quoted as saying that you feel is wrong?

One of the things he is quoted as saying is:
"Let’s define why we really need nuclear submarines in the first instance...".

I am entirely unconvinced this had originally been done from a military perspective. It comes across much more as a Dutton, Morrison and a few merry men decision.

If you were concerned by Attack class being an orphan, then you wouldn't believe in Collins class either. You should also start worrying about the future UK SSN.

You’d think putting the RAN Submariners in the safest, most advanced boats available would be enough though…

Is a bit quaint I give you but there you go. Moving stuff can have it's issues (Jul 2014 in Montana). If the bit of sub went "walkies" I suspect some new houses would be required!

In this case, it looks like at least 2 of these were well on their way to joining the Submarine Service thereby providing an extremely tenuous link to this Thread!!! :ok:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7f297f38c0.jpg

Those trains run right through the middle of our Golf Course. It is still strange to watch fuselages passing by. I'm told by a FAA buddy that by the time they reach their destination that often they need to repair holes that people have inflicted on them along the route. It is not uncommon for them to be shot at.

We golfers hate the Train Drivers because they time their extremely loud horns and hit the button purposely on our backswings or wen we are putting.

Lots of middle finger saluting in response.

Golf? I'm with Mark Twain and Jeremy Clarkson on that: “Golf is a good walk spoiled.”.

On the subject of idiots with guns taking pot shots at aeroplanes, an ex-colleague of mine once bought an ex-Iraqi Hawker Fury ISS in the US around the time of GW1. It was dismantled prior to shipping, but when he went to inspect it, he found a large hole had been made in one of the wings, which matched a similar hole in the hangar wall. Some ignorant redneck had obviously taken offence to the "Goddam Eye-Raqui fighter" and had loosed off from his portable cannon....

Reuters:

17th March: https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...us-2025-03-16/

US starts to build submarine presence on strategic Australian coast under AUKUS

10th April: https://www.reuters.com/world/aukus-...ia-2025-04-10/

Exclusive: AUKUS nuclear submarine sale under scrutiny as Trump tariffs rattle Australia

11th April: https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...se-2025-04-11/

Australia wants AUKUS submarines for deterrence, stealth, says PM Albanese

The Masters is on today, final round. Rory McIlroy was leading at the end of round 3 by two shots.

If China is successful in shutting down UK's last blast furnace, the AUKUS subs are...well...sunk. We can't ship Oz steel to the US (tariffs) and we can't afford to buy theirs.

It’s not British steel in the Dreadnaught and I presume the same will be true for SSN-A. Australia will build most of their own apart from the reactor module anyway.

https://archive.ph/pK35s

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f8299659ef.png
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Firstly miliary hardware and materials used in military hardware are tariff free

Goods that are re exported from the US you can claim back the tariffs you paid on the input products

Bisalloy will be suppling steel for the AUS subs, assuming they pass certification so no reason to believe they would be incapable of supplying the UK

Which is likely to require a change in certification approach - at least for the grades to be used on the boats....

First eight RAN sailors have graduated from the USN Nuclear Power Traing Unit. Five further officers have also graduated following on from the two groups of three from the prototype courses and will now gain sea experience on SUBPAC Virginias.

https://news.usni.org/2025/04/22/fir...vy-nuke-school

The 4.6% of Steel from the UK mentioned in that article covers the critical first level Q1N forgings made by Sheffield Forgemasters Ltd, which is why the Govt took them into ownership a few years ago.
The French steel is mostly plate.

From where do Forgemasters buy their steel?

https://image02.seesaawiki.jp/d/e/do...8201f469ef.pdf

With all major hull units of the future DREADNOUGHT SSBN already in the Devonshire Dock Hall being assembled, now sections of casing are also going in, coming from the Central Yard Facility.

The L section, to which these units belong, is in the stern area.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e35a1e41ea.png

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0a06ea68a1.png

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5d064c0330.png
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2754029.html

Trump’s man in London backs Aukus partnership with UK and Australia

Donald Trump’s new ambassador to the UK has used his first public speech to back the Aukus partnership with Britain and Australia.

Warren Stephens highlighted how “vital the US-UK relationship is to our countries and to the world” at an event in Parliament attended by Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Stephens said the Aukus partnership, which is developing a new fleet of nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines for the UK and Australia, would help maintain a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The ambassador’s decision to make his first public address in support of the project is symbolically important, given it is a legacy of Joe Biden’s term in the White House.

The alliance, which also covers collaboration on other advanced technologies, is seen as an attempt to counter the influence of China in the region.

Mr Stephens said Aukus was based on “peace, security and prosperity”.

“Those three ideas lie at the heart of our partnership promoting peace by developing our technologies and deterring our adversaries, bolstering security by training and trading together to fend off threats from cyber attacks to submarines and boosting prosperity by maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, while creating jobs and investment from Brisbane to Barrow and to Newport News.”

He said Aukus was a “partnership built on trust, and the United States is proud to stand alongside Britain and Australia, two of our closest allies, as we deepen our collaboration to respond to a changing world”.

Mr Stephens also highlighted the economic opportunities from the project: “Government works best when we get out of the way and let our businesses innovate, compete and collaborate to improve people’s lives.

“President Trump and I know this to be true, as it has been repeatedly proven throughout history. That fact is built into the Aukus partnership, which sees great American, British and Australian companies innovating and investing to maintain our critical technological edge.”

The Prime Minister told the event in the House of Lords, organised by the all-party parliamentary group on Aukus, that “when we talk about security and stability, we mean it – in the Indo-Pacific and here at home”.

He said Aukus was already creating thousands of jobs in Barrow, where the submarines will be built and Derby, where Rolls-Royce produces the nuclear reactors to power the boats.

“This is transformational, an investment in our collective security and a reminder today, and every day of the service out there, of people who are risking their lives to keep us safe,” Sir Keir said.

Australia’s high commissioner Stephen Smith told the event: “What underpins economic growth is, of course, security and the Aukus trilateral partnership is, at its very heart, ensuring we continue to have peace and security, not just in the Indo-Pacific, but in the Euro-Atlantic as well.”