Is SSN-AUKUS a realistic option for Canada?

On the occasion of an announcement, eagerly awaited by the Canadian armies, of a future increase in defense spending by Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he had spoken with his American, British and Australian counterparts, regarding Canada's possible membership in the AUKUS alliance.

The leader also announced discussions with these same interlocutors so that Ottawa could possibly join the SSN-AUKUS program, aimed at designing a new generation nuclear attack submarine to equip the British and Australian navies. .

However, if the choice of nuclear propulsion for future Canadian attack submarines would make a lot of sense, all the other parameters concerning this hypothesis, ranging from the timetable to the costs of such a program, ring false. to Canadian realities.

Towards an extension of the AUKUS alliance to face China in the Pacific

For several weeks, the United States has increased diplomatic overtures to try to strengthen the AUKUS alliance, in the face of growing tensions with China. Therefore the subject was raised with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, on the occasion of his official visit to Washington to meet President Biden.

For Tokyo, it would be a question of joining the second pillar of the AUKUS alliance, relating only to military cooperation, and not to its participation in the SSN-AUKUS nuclear attack submarine program.

Remember that the Japanese naval self-defense forces already have a very efficient submarine fleet, currently being modernized with the new Taïgei class submarines, the first ships equipped with Lithium-ion batteries. Furthermore, constitutionally, the country does not have the ability to deploy its forces, significantly limiting the usefulness of nuclear-powered submarines.

Justin Trudeau discusses talks with US, UK and Australia to join AUKUS

This is not at all the case, however, for Canada. Not only does Ottawa share, with the three founding members of the AUKUS alliance, its membership of the Five Eyes, the closest allies of the United States, but the country does not have the constitutional constraints which govern the use of armed forces Japanese.

In addition, the Royal Canadian Navy has initiated a program to replace its four Victoria-class submarines with six to twelve new submarines, to simultaneously strengthen its presence on its Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

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