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Peter Briggs

Peter Briggs

Pearls and Irritations

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AUKUS is a $368 billion gamble Australia does not need to take

AUKUS is a $368 billion gamble Australia does not need to take

US production shortfalls, Britain’s submarine crisis and Australia’s own infrastructure delays are eroding the assumptions behind AUKUS. It’s...

01.09.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

The French lesson: why Australia should take another look at LEU

France’s experience with low-enriched uranium submarines challenges claims that Australia would have to send vessels overseas for reactor support,...

21.08.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS Infrastructure, part 7: Sorting the submarine source and sustainment stalemate

In part seven of the AUKUS infrastructure series, the focus turns to Henderson, where fragmented planning risks locking Australia into costly nuclear...

17.08.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS Infrastructure, part 6: It is not too late to change course

In the final part of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, Peter Briggs argues that Pillar 1 cannot deliver on schedule or budget, and that...

03.08.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS infrastructure, part 5: The HEU problem

In the fifth of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, the choice of highly enriched uranium raises questions about proliferation, safety, waste,...

02.08.2026 10

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS infrastructure, part 4: Australia’s dual-site labour trap

In the fourth of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, the focus turns to workforce: Australia must build and sustain two geographically...

01.08.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS infrastructure, part 4: Australia’s dual-site labour trap

In the fourth of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, the focus turns to workforce: Australia must build and sustain two geographically...

31.07.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS infrastructure, part 3: The Osborne construction enterprise

In the third of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, Osborne’s submarine yard is making visible progress, but unfunded stages, nuclear...

30.07.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS Infrastructure, part 2: The Henderson bottleneck

In the second of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, the focus shifts to Henderson, where fragmented land tenure, commercial disruption and...

29.07.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS infrastructure, part 1: The docking gap that could sink Pillar 1

The first in a six-part series examines the maintenance reality behind AUKUS Pillar 1, and the looming risk that Australia may receive Virginia-class...

28.07.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

The US shipyard crisis sinking AUKUS

With more than a third of the US fast-attack submarine fleet sidelined by maintenance delays, the assumptions behind AUKUS Pillar 1 are looking less...

23.07.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS leaves Australia with the long nuclear goodbye – part two

In the second of a two-part series, Peter Briggs examines the decommissioning, dismantling and waste-disposal risks Australia will inherit from AUKUS...

20.07.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

Before the AUKUS submarines arrive, Australia inherits the risks – part one

In the first of a two-part series, Peter Briggs examines the technical and security risks of relying on highly enriched uranium and an unproven...

19.07.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

Australia should take another look at France’s nuclear submarines

The choice between high- and low-enriched uranium submarines will shape Australia’s nuclear security, waste and non-proliferation obligations for...

07.07.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

The AUKUS mirage: why Australia needs a pragmatic pivot to Plan B

Australia still needs nuclear-powered submarines for long-range sea denial, but the current AUKUS pathway is too slow and risky, making a locally...

23.06.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

Second-hand submarines: a sovereign flaw

The decision to acquire three secondhand Virginia-class submarines resolves a major fleet standardisation issue, but it also deepens Australia’s...

02.06.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS meets reality – UK ‘all in’ a mess (Part 2)

16.12.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

AUKUS meets reality – what's not in the AUSMIN Media Release (Part 1)

15.12.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

SSN AUKUS – Heading for a quagmire (Part II)

05.09.2025 50

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs

The shrinking US Navy submarine force – Implications for AUKUS Pillar 1 (Part 1)

05.09.2025 50

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Briggs