Media outlets have mischaracterised the AUKUS deal and focused too much on the challenges of helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines while ignoring the significant technology exchange between the U.S., UK, and Australia, according to defence experts at a recent Hudson Institute panel discussion.
Australian Senator Andrew Hastie joined the Institute’s Asia-Pacific Security Chair Patrick Cronin, a former submariner and expert Bryan Clark, as well as moderator Peter Rough.
Cronin took aim at Australian media for focusing too much on issues like capability gaps, money wastage, “alienating options” for dealing with China, and suggesting AUKUS would result in Australia becoming an “adjunct to the U.S. Navy.”…