Toward Decline
New Evidence China Is Building A Mothership For Large Uncrewed Submarines
Why it matters
China's construction of a dedicated mothership for large uncrewed submarines signals advancement in autonomous underwater warfare capabilities that Australia and AUKUS must now account for in force structure planning. This capability compounds the timeline pressure on AUKUS submarine delivery and raises questions about whether conventionally-crewed submarines remain the optimal investment, directly challenging the strategic assumptions underpinning the Pillar II attack-submarine program.
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