Sub deal burdens Australia, profits Washington: China Daily editorial

Given its geographical location and the fact that it is the only nation that is a continent unto itself, Australia's defense needs are relatively limited.

For all the gratuitous talk of a threat from China, the Australian economy is highly intertwined with Asian economies, especially China, which has been Australia's largest trade partner, main source of imports and primary export destination for more than a decade.

Given all that, it is unfathomable why Australia's Department of Defense wants at least eight nuclear submarines by 2040 as well as a new submarine base to accommodate them.

Presumably, Australia's pursuit of a submarine force that exceeds both its self-defense needs and its capability to build and berth them is because that is what the United States wants it to do.

For the US, its gullible allies are gifts that keep on giving when it comes to selling them exorbitantly priced military hardware. Now, rather than just selling Australia the required technology as originally proposed, the Joe Biden administration is looking to expedite the production of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia by building "the first few" vessels on US soil, while providing Australia with the capability to build such vessels itself in the future.

That would kill two birds with one stone for the US. As Australia's former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said, without the ability to maintain or sustain a naval nuclear propulsion system, the submarines cannot be operated without US supervision, which essentially means they will be under US control. And although the US does have military bases in Australia, it does not have a naval base capable of supporting its nuclear submarines, although plans have reportedly been drawn up for a new port facility just outside Darwin.

Despite that, it seems that some in the US are less than enthralled with the proposal, arguing that it would scupper the US' plan to have a fleet of 60 nuclear submarines given the US' own building-capacity constraints.

According to reports, Democratic Senator Jack Reed, who is chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator James Inhofe warned President Biden on Dec 21 that "We believe current conditions require a sober assessment of the facts to avoid stressing the US submarine industrial base to breaking point." The two politicians urged Biden to adopt a "do no harm" approach to ensure that the US' national security capabilities "are not diminished".

A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Defense played down relevant reports saying that "the optimal pathway for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines is taking shape", and an announcement would be made this year.

Whatever that announcement is, Canberra is sure to be paying through the nose to hand over its sovereignty to the US, if it proceeds with its plans to acquire nuclear subs.