Wouldn’t a bunch of smaller diesel attack subs be a better tool for controlling our coasts and northern waters?
We deploy our subs for blue water not just littoral use. They patrol up as far as the South China Sea. Nukes allow us the stay on station for much longer than DEs.
The South China Sea is shallow, a poor operating environment for nuclear subs.
Containment of China to the South China Sea is a US strategy and one which Australia is subsiding, while materially hurting its ability to defend Australia’s coastline.
A nuke sub operating there for a couple of months is still better than a DE that leaves after a week (presuming it can reach that far at all).
China can already detect all subs in the South China Sea between their network of underwater sensors and synthetic aperture radar satellites.
