Toward Programme
Australia just ordered 40 drone patrol boats that buy no fuel and carry nobody, 24-foot hulls that harvest sun, wind and waves at the same time and hold station for six months straight, taking its drone fleet to 55 while its nuclear submarines stay stuck in the 203 - Autonocion.com
Why it matters
Australia is expanding unmanned maritime capability to offset submarine delivery delays and extend persistent maritime domain awareness. This represents strategic acceptance of capability substitution in littoral operations, but does not address the 20-year shortfall in attack-submarine numbers driving operational risk across the Indo-Pacific.
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