The bill sticks to budget caps laid out by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
By Valerie Insinna“We’re already making good progress on the design and development of the next generation submarine in the UK, where we have more than 1,000 people working on the SSN-AUKUS program and major infrastructure investment underway,” BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said.
By Colin Clark“So that’s one thing I would encourage the [Australian] government to do, is be transparent as possible on what the plans ahead are so industry can can respond and be ready,” Northrop Grumman executive Tom Wears said.
By Colin Clark“The reality is the Americans are not going to make their submarine deficit worse than it is already by giving or selling submarines to Australia and the AUKUS legislation actually sets that out quite specifically,” former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.
By Colin ClarkKristyn Jones, who is performing the duties of the under secretary of the Air Force, warned that modernization initiatives aimed at countering China would also be at risk if a budget impasse in Congress stretches on.
By Michael Marrow“So I know people are frustrated, but the defence budget is increasing. Money is flowing to defence industry to deliver capable projects, critical capabilities,” Pat Conroy, minister for defense industry, said.
By Colin Clark“I read about so many people in my position, who say, I’m going to triple revenue by whatever. I don’t get into that game. Perhaps that’s because of my defense upbringing. I know how to turn capital into capability. I look at value in a company. Revenue to me is one marker. Value is the most important marker for me,” Warren “Macca” McDonald, CEO of Lockheed Martin Australia, told Breaking Defense.
By Colin Clark“It’s partly long-lead items but it’s also partly working on those yards where our submarines will come out of for us,” Vice Adm. Jonathan Mead told Breaking Defense.
By Colin ClarkIndependent government auditors found the issues are driving up price, but not yet to the ceiling for the contracts.
By Justin KatzA new report from a leading Australian thinktank says there’s a “disconnect” between Australia’s strategic priorities and the money to fund capabilities to tackle them.
By Colin ClarkSidharth Kaushal, research fellow at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute defense think tank, said AUKUS will likely make a Chinese attack on Taiwan, “decidedly less appealing.”
By Tim MartinIf Australia needs US tech for its AUKUS upgrade, arms transfer legislation could get in the way, unless Congress acts, says key US lawmaker.
By Colin ClarkThe watchdog found the service was contradicting itself on multi-year procurement buys without clearly stating why.
By Justin KatzAnalyst Tim Walton thinks it’d be wise for Australia to field other, complementary undersea warfare capabilities such as “the Transformational Reliable Acoustic Path System and mobile sensors such as Wave Gliders with towed arrays to inexpensively monitor straits and ocean areas.”
By Colin Clark