People are assuming they'll be Astute class subs, which would be great news for BAE in Barrow and a feather in the cap for the government's "Global Britain" tilt to the Indo-Pacific. French foreign policy analysts are spitting feathers on Twitter.
Seems unlikely, all our foreign policy media are reporting the Defence Department prefer the Virginia Class to the Astute class. The government has generally preferred American contractors to Europeans in recent years. ScoMo also has a desperate need to suck up to Biden so he doesn't get too harsh on our non-existent climate policy.
Who knows? But I'd be surprised if the US agrees export of Virginias,
especially if it isn't Americans making them. Given Australia is very keen on building the submarines themselves we are talking more about licensing the design, which isn't really something the US has been keen on. The nature of the announcement makes far more sense if the base design is a licensing of the Astute, which includes US nuclear propulsion tech.
