Australia's 'barking mad' bet on nuclear submarines

The Conversation Weekly · Sep 17, 2026 · 20m

The multi-billion dollar AUKUS defence deal between the US, UK and Australia is one of the most significant in our modern history.

The three countries wanted to curb China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific. To do it, Australia was going to get new nuclear-powered submarines.

But in the five years since the agreement was first announced, it’s been anything but smooth sailing.

In this week's episode of The Conversation Weekly, we speak with Hugh White, a security and defence analyst at the Australian National University, to explore how the secretive deal was struck and why it's…