British imperialism: sinking below the waves

Written by: Nick G. on 30 September 2026

 

(Above Extinction Rebellion members oppose AUKUS at ALP National Convention in Adelaide July 2026.  Photo supplied)

British imperialism’s decline as the power that once “ruled the waves” has been demonstrated by what the UK Daily Mail newspaper called “an extraordinarily protracted construction process” for its latest nuclear-powered attack submarine.

Its completion comes 13 years after construction began.

Commissioned in 2013, the UK Ministry of Defence expected the Astute class sub to be an active part of its nuclear fleet by 2022.

Four years late, the £1.65billion (A$3.12 bn) sub will be the only one of the UK’s six Astute class submarines in the water: the other five are currently laid up awaiting maintenance and other repair work.

The submarine was built by BAE Systems at their submarine site at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, the same company that has been awarded the Australian government’s contract to build the five SSN-AUKUS submarines under the AUKUS arrangements.

Lord West, former First Sea Lord and Labour security minister, said 'The fact that there has not been money invested in dry docks, in the maintenance facilities, in the men required to maintain and repair the submarines, in the spare parts for those submarines is why we have got to this position.”

Australia has already begun payment of A$4.6 billion (£2.4 billion) to allow the expansion of Rolls Royce's Derby site where the SSN-AUKUS nuclear reactors will be built.

It is planned that the five SSN-AUKUS boats will be built at SA’s Osborne shipyard. Construction is due to begin by the end of the 2030s with the first sub delivered in the early 2040s. However, if BAE runs true to form, and the construction process takes 13 years, delivery could be made in the early 2050s. 

Again, if BAE runs true to form, most of the SSN-AUKUS subs will be laid up for maintenance for much of their operational life.

Of the more than 1000 submissions to the AUKUS Public Inquiry, all but those that could be counted on your fingers and toes are opposed to AUKUS. 

The challenge for us is to turn that into a sustained campaign with a heightened level of struggle, to stop AUKUS and break the hold that the US has on Australia.