Ironic that the French sub is actually nuke powered and ours were going to be retrofitted with diesel! That must stick in the French craw...
According to the Government salesmen the deal changer was that the US was prepared to offer us their nuclear powered propulsion system which is fueled for life, (33 years) which previously was off the table.
They say that the French one requires refueling.
So we either need a domestic nuclear industry or we send them back for to a French port for that.
Anyway I think that the subs get the headline but the major change is that we are aligning ourselves squarely against China's influence in the region.
