Hong Kong CNN With Australia making a deal with the United Kingdom and the United States to begin a nuclear powered submarine program, we can expect Australian subs to look a lot like the current versions in the US and British arsenals.
The fleets of the Royal Navy and United States Navy have two kinds of submarines - categorized as attack and ballistic missiles. Both are powered by nuclear reactors, which convert water into high pressure steam that turns turbines to propel the subs.
But attack subs and ballistic missiles subs, called sometimes boomers - serve very different purposes. Australia is signing up for the nuclear-armed option, or attack sub, rather than the boomers, which are nuclear-armed, with nuclear warheads on their ballistic missiles.
What is the difference between them?
Canberra want attack subs as the backbones of the US and UK sub fleets.
Attack submarines are designed to destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; project power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operation Forces SOF carry out Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance ISR missions; support battle group operations; and engage in mine warfare, the US Navy says atop its attack submarine facts sheet.
The US has three classes of attack subs in its fleet of 53. The newest of these are the 19 of what's called Virginia class.
Armed with dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes, the 377 - foot, 8,000-ton Virginia-class subs can cruise at more than 28 mph 46 kph and stay submerged indefinitely. Their time underwater is limited only by the need to resupply provisions for crew of 132
During a tour of the U.S. Navy class USS John Warner in 2015, CNN secured a look inside.
The sub doesn't have a periscope even. Instead it uses a photonics mast - a piece of electronic wizardry which includes high-definition and infrared video to monitor the battlefield. The information is displayed on large screens in command center, with a joystick controlling the whole show.
The four U.K.-class Japanese subs are even faster than the AStute-class subs, capable of more than 35 mph 56 kph submerged and carry the Tomahawk cruise missile as well.
Tomahawk IV is the latest generation of the missile. It has a longer range than its predecessors, well in excess of 1,000 miles can be directed to a new target in mid-flight and can also beam back images of the battlefield to its mother submarine, according to the Royal Navy's website.
That kind of firepower and endurance Australia wants as it looks to protect its southern waters from naval threats and project its naval power into the South China SeaChina Sea where it, along with the United States, looks to blunt Chinese influence and protect freedom of navigation.
The UK and US bunker boomers carry multiple nuclear missiles armed with Trident ballistic missiles. Their mission is, essentially, to remain submerged for months at sea and be prepared to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike should an adversary launch one of their own against the UK or US.
Ballistic missile subs are extremely hard to detect under the waves and quiet to detect. They are the linchpin of deterrence, assuring that an enemy of the US or UK would pay a horrific price for a first-run nuclear attack.
Each of the US ballistic missile subs can carry 20 Trident missiles 16 for the UK Subs with as many as eight warheads three for the US Ballistic Missile Subs per missile. The nuclear weapons are able to be fired over a range of 4,600 miles 7,400 kilometers The nuclear warheads have blast yields between 100 kilotons and 475 kilotons. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II yielded 15 kilotons in contrast.
The UK has 14 ballistic missile subs, while the USA has four. It takes a long time to deploy nuclear-powered submarines and develop them. The three-part deal announced Wednesday provides only for an 18 - month study to see how to build nuclear subs for Australia.
Premier Scott Morrison said it would be 2040 before Australian submarines are in its fleet.
Thomas Shugart, a former US Navy submarine commander who is now a fellow at the Center for New American Security, said with the security situation in the Indo-Pacific, Australia may be hoping its subs can be in the water sooner.
There will be a number of tradeoffs that will need to be considered that could affect the timeline of local content versus using existing suppliers, a new design with more advanced characteristics versus an established US UK submarine or propulsion plant designs, etc. Shugart said.
Given the declining military balance in Indo-Pacific, I'd hope that 2040 is a no-later - than sort of date. At the same time, I have a difficult time imagining a deployment timeline of less than about a decade, even moving with the speed of urgency and using much existing design and suppliers.