Six Years On

 In 2019 we published a series of articles titled 'Future-proofing the Attack class' in ASPI's The Strategist.

In those articles we contended that, if constructed with lead acid main batteries, the first submarines of the Attack class would be obsolescent by the time they were commissioned in the early-mid 2030s.

Our contention proved to be correct, and in September 2021 the Morrison Government announced the cancellation of the Attack class project and the pivot to nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreement with the US and UK.

In 2025 we reviewed subsequent progress in the adoption of light metal battery (LMB) technology for conventional non-nuclear submarines, and came to several conclusions:

  • LMB technology will be the dominant battery technology for new conventional submarines entering service from 2030 onwards
  • Continuing development of LMB technology will lead to a new class of all-electric submarine (SSE), capable of zero-indiscretion missions of significant duration and range
  • By the mid-2040s the performance gap between nuclear-powered submarines and advanced conventional submarines including SSEs will be significantly narrowed when operating in constrained regional waters
  • These developments will have significant implications for Australia's future submarine capability
Our review, findings and conclusions are now published in three articles:

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