Nuclear subs to pack global punch

Australia’s planned nuclear submarines will expand the nation’s military reach ‘to the limits’ of the Indian and Pacific oceans, a former US Indo-Pacific commander says.

Australia’s planned nuclear submarines would be more capable than diesel-electric boats ‘in almost every dimension’, former US Indo-Pacific commander Harry Harris says. Picture: Supplied

Australia’s planned nuclear submarines will expand the nation’s military reach “to the limits” of the Indian and Pacific oceans, former US Indo-Pacific commander Harry Harris says.

The retired admiral told the UBS Australasia Conference the submarines would be a “fundamental game changer”, enabling Australia to protect the flow of oil and other key imports from Asia, the Americas and Europe.

While the first of the submarines is not expected to be completed for another two decades, Admiral Harris said he believed the construction time frame could be “truncated” if the US, UK and Australia were “fully committed”.

Former US Pacific commander Harry Harris. Picture: AAP

Amid ongoing tensions with Beijing over Taiwan, Admiral Harris also said there was “no question” the US had the capability to defend the island. But he said the recent launch of Chinese and Russian hypersonic missiles was alarming, and “potentially worse” than the “Sputnik ­moment” in 1957 when the Soviet Union beat America in launching a satellite into orbit.

Admiral Harris said the only way the US could prevent its military advantage from eroding over time was to continue to invest in new capabilities. “And that’s why the development of a nuclear submarine force for Australia is so ­important,” he said.

He said the submarines would be more capable than diesel-electric boats “in almost every dimension”, including their speed, diving depth, ability to stay submerged and weapons payload. He said Australia needed such capabilities because it was an island nation with “global reach” and influence.

“(They) will allow Australia to extend its reach to the limits of the Indian and Pacific oceans, which is so important to all of us,” Admiral Harris said.

He said Australia needed the capability to protect key shipping routes through the Strait of ­Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and at Bab el-Mandeb, where traffic from the Suez Canal enters the Indian Ocean.

“Those ocean highways that are going to bring you the necessary resources and deliver to other countries your resources that you are exporting need to be defended,” he said. “And the nuclear submarine gives you that capability.”

Admiral Harris, who served under Donald Trump as US ­ambassador to South Korea, said neither the US nor China wanted “a shooting war in the Indo-­Pacific”, but the powers disagreed fundamentally on how to ­approach the international order. “Let’s face it, the Chinese do not keep their word on things like their treaty with the British on Hong Kong, (and) it’s human rights abuses against its own people in western China.

“We don’t agree with the PRC’s attempts at commercial espionage, nor do we agree with the PRC’s attempts to first isolate then dominate Taiwan.”

He said he believed China had sufficient military intelligence to “completely understand” the ­extent of US military capabilities, and its determination to defend Taiwan. “They won’t challenge that in the near-term,” he said.

But he said he believed the US policy of “strategic ambiguity” in relation to Taiwan should be replaced by one of “strategic clarity”, making clear the consequences for China if it invaded Taiwan.

The head of ANU’s National Security College, Rory Medcalf, told the conference the AUKUS nuclear submarines would allow Australia to take greater responsibility for its maritime interests, and the independence of the wider region. “It doesn’t mean we are going to dominate that space. It doesn’t mean we are invading anybody,” Professor Medcalf said.

He said it would also enable Australia to make a stronger ­contribution to its alliance with the US.