US Secretly Aided French Nuclear Program: Cutout to Israel

The information below indicates the US not only provided "how to build" nuclear weapons and missile information for France's purportedly "homegrown" nuclear deterrent, but the US provided this information on the understanding France would pass it on to Israel.

US TO FRANCE

William Burr https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/william-burr wrote “U.S. Secret Assistance to the French Nuclear Program, 1969-1975: From "Fourth Country" to Strategic Partner” Dated May 26, 2011

at https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/us-secret-assistance-to-the-french-nuclear-program-1969-1975-fourth-country-to-strategic   Extracts of this long paper include:

“The Nixon administration secretly reversed a policy of opposition to, and non-cooperation with, the French nuclear program that began to emerge during the final years of the Eisenhower administration [ie. late 1950s to 1961].

... Nixon's decisions stayed secret until the summer of 1989 when Princeton University political scientist Richard Ullman published an article in Foreign Policy magazine on "The Covert French Connection." ² [Richard Ullman, “The Covert French Connection,” Foreign Policy, No. 75 (Summer, 1989), 3-33.]

...Supporting the decision to aid the French was the assumption, held by Nixon and national security adviser Henry Kissinger, that making French nuclear forces more effective would strengthen the U.S. strategic position against the Soviet Union.

Drawing upon interviews with over 100 former officials, Ullman sought to puncture two myths: that the French strategic force ["force de frappe"] was "entirely homegrown," and that, owing to Washington's restrictive policy on the diffusion of nuclear technology, only the British had been a recipient of direct assistance.

Recently declassified documents show that during the summer of 1973, French defense minister Robert Galley directly asked for "‘negative guidance' on the trigger for the French nuclear warhead." (Document No. 47)

Defense Minister Robert Galley brought up a variety of problems where the French wanted help, such as multiple reentry vehicles, hardening of reentry vehicles (RVs/warheads), "negative guidance" for nuclear weapons design, and developing underground test sites so that atmospheric tests could end. The aid that the French were seeking would amount to assistance for a new generation of French missiles. As Kissinger aide William Hyland observed, this meant "crossing a line that was observed during previous cooperation." (Document No. 48)

Yet, Ullman also notes that his interview subjects acknowledged that "they had no confidence that anyone really knew what American scientists and engineers said to French colleagues over lunch and dinner once they had been given a basic license to talk." ⁵ [Ullman, “The French Covert Connection,” 20.]

 Thus, the actual conveyance of "negative guidance" may have been a matter outside of White House control. Certainly much more needs to be learned about the U.S. program of assistance to France.”

Pete Comment

Given US distrust of France’s independent foreign policy along with France’s independent nuclear program why was the US willing to help France. The joint enemy USSR was one reason. But I also theorise that French-Israeli nuclear cooperation in the 1950s (eg. France helping build the Negev/Dimona Nuclear Weapons Center and helping with Israel's Jericho missiles) continued in later decades.

In the 1960s, via France, the US secretly provide nuclear help to Israel, the US's most important strategic ally in the Middle East. US nuclear support to Israel occurring via France was more easily covered up. In espionage terms France acted as the deniable cutout for US nuclear weapon and missile intelligence to Israel.

FRANCE TO ISRAEL

Significant evidence of French nuclear assistance to Israel comes from a then serving US officer, who was both a military surgeon and military intelligence officer. He wrote about France’s early 1960s nuclear tests in the French Sahara.  This was US Lieutenant Colonel Warner D. Farr, who in a 1999 report to the USAF Counterproliferation Center states "Progress in nuclear science and technology in France and Israel remained closely linked throughout the early fifties." 

Furthermore, according to Farr, "There were several Israeli observers at the French nuclear tests [in the early 1960s in the Sahara] and the Israelis had 'unrestricted access to French nuclear test explosion data.'"[6]"

Pete Comment

So in the early 1960s there were Israeli observers to French nuclear tests of weapons that were built with US help. 

Furthermore Israeli nuclear weapons scientists/engineers "had 'unrestricted access to French nuclear test explosion data." of nuclear weapons France built with US help. As Israel is not known to have conducted its own "hot" (ie. fission and fusion reaction) nuclear weapon tests Israel's nuclear weapons' development (via computer modelling) very much relied on French nuclear test explosion data. 

India sets up Indian Ocean coastal & island radars.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-sets-up-coastal-radars-in-neighbourhood-to-keep-eye-on-china-1744751-2020-11-27

New Indian radars to be set up in Maldives, Bangladesh and Myanmar (see below). This is against State (China, Pakistan) and Non-State threats (terrorists, pirates, drug/gun smugglers, illegal fishing, etc).

Map courtesy India Today.

Quadrilateral: Networked Defence Against Chinese Military Advances

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, between the US, India, Japan and Australia, is steadily forming a vital networked defence structure in response to China's growing military power in the Indo-Pacific.
(Map courtesy Wikipedia).

The US is still the vital cog in the Quad. This is because the geographically, culturally and linguistically diverse nature of the Quad, tends to weaken it against centrally commanded, Chinese forces.

To redress this weakness increased all services, exercise, interactions of Quad members is vital, as well as common weapons, procedures and broader use of English whenever possible. English is very widely spoken in India, the US and Australia. Knowledge of English in Japan is improving.

In initial response to Pete’s perhaps extravagant claim that far in the future Australia and France may have a nuclear propelled/nuclear weapon submarine deal GhalibKabir made excellent comments on November 20, 2020. The Quad is a regionally useful arrangement at hand ie. very soon, rather than Australia-France Nuclear, which would be way down the track.

GhalibKabir comments:

“Not unless the Quadrilateral or whatever can walk the talk. Else, Australia will not get a nuclear SSN fleet as a [French K15 reactor] LEU based fleet needing refueling every 7-10 years is a costly thing to sink US$ 100-200 billion into.

Unless SIGINT collaboration, Undersea collaboration including bigger IUSS backed by UUV and UAV coordination materializes tangibly, the PLA will keep having an open field.

Most importantly, in case there are serious risks of flare-ups, unless there is serious signalling to China in terms of assured retaliation in terms of [Electronic Warfare?] EW response, [anti-satellite] ASAT retaliations on Chinese satellite constellations etc. China will brush this away like an elephant swatting away a fly.

To use underwater as an illustration, this is what it will take to make China take things seriously in the Indian Ocean and SCS

1. SIGINT/ELINT sats linked up across to P-8s, E-2Ds, RQ-4s/UAVs etc across from India to Australia

2. IUSS/SOSUS: These are to have links to AUV/UUVs and also to satellites above

3. Submarines: Along with UUVs, midget subs, AIP bearing SSKs, SSNs etc. need to be used in a 4 layer mesh. India, US, Australia, UK, France etc might need to collaborate here to manage the nearly 80 submarine plus innumerable UUV holding PLAN.

4. Surface vessels: Right from sharing bathymetry data etc, major surface vessels need to carry good Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) suites and be able to coordinate

5. Air support, missiles and munitions: Again SEAD/DEAD suite bearing fighters, long range munitions, BVRAAM missiles will need coordinated deployment to sustain parity or if not, a small 'first see, first shoot'chance against PLAN planes like the KJ-500 and KJ-600s and [Chinese stealth] J-20 and J-31 [aka FC-31]

This is the bare minimum needed... meaningless 'viagra for hermaphrodites' gestures like FONOPs won't cut any ice."

Philippines set to be first buyer of Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missile

KIRAN SHARMA and CLIFF VENZON, for Nikkei Asia, in an excellent article. reported, November 22, 2020:

"NEW DELHI/MANILA -- India and Russia are looking to export to the Philippines their jointly developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a move that may unnerve Beijing, given its border standoff with New Delhi and territorial disputes with other neighbors in the South China Sea.

The BrahMos takes its name from two rivers -- the Brahmaputra in India and the Moskva in Russia. The missile is manufactured by an Indo-Russian joint venture, BrahMos Aerospace, which was set up in India in 1998 and is responsible for designing, developing and marketing the missile. 

...[In December 2019] the Philippines said that it planned to buy the BrahMos for the army and air force to boost its coastal defenses. [Philippine] Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the contract would be signed by the second quarter of 2020, and consist of "two batteries," according to the state-run Philippine News Agency.

...Equipped with stealth technology and an advanced guidance system, the BrahMos can be launched from air, land, sea and underwater platforms and can carry conventional warheads weighing 200 kg to 300 kg. It has a range of 290 km and is supersonic, shortening flight and engagement time. The missile's speed makes it difficult for targets to disburse. No known weapon can intercept it, according to BrahMos Aerospace.

...New Delhi and Manila earlier this month held an online meeting of their commission on bilateral cooperation, co-chaired by India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Teodoro Locsin Jr., his Philippine counterpart. They agreed to strengthen the two countries' defense engagement and maritime cooperation, especially in military training, capacity-building, goodwill visits and procurement of equipment.

China is likely to view these developments with concern, including the involvement of its ally Russia in supplying the BrahMos to the Philippines.

...On Oct. 18, the missile was successfully test-fired from the Indian Navy's indigenously built stealth destroyer INS Chennai, hitting a target in the Arabian Sea "with pinpoint accuracy," a Defense Ministry statement said. On Sept. 30, a BrahMos surface-to-surface ground attack cruise missile featuring many Indian-made subsystems was flight-tested. During the test, the missile cruised at a top speed of Mach 2.8...

..."Russia clearly sees China as a useful partner when it comes to their posturing vis-a-vis the West. But they are also being pragmatic when it comes to [their] defense exports," which are falling, [Harsh V. Pant, head of the strategic studies program at New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation] told Nikkei. He observed that apart from the Philippines, others, including Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, have also shown interest in the BrahMos. "If you have to make this defense venture economically viable, then exports are very important."

Under the Missile Technology Control Regime that India joined in 2018, avenues for selling the BrahMos overseas have opened up, said Pankaj Jha, a professor of defense and strategic affairs at O.P. Jindal Global University, pointing out that its range is being extended to 400 km from the original 290 km...."

See the WHOLE EXCELLENT NIKKEI ARTICLE

US Future SSN(X) More Likely Evolved Virginia

There is a faction in the US SSN world (both submariners and SSN builders) who see the USN's future SSN(X) as an opportunity to re-introduce an updated, very expensive, hi-spec, "Seawolf II".

But for quantity building, and lower price, Congress and the naval brass (who need to budget for all types of naval craft) will likely opt for a submarine class more evolved from the Virginia SSN Block V and VI.

Some useful further reading is at https://news.usni.org/2020/11/20/navy-new-virginia-block-vi-virginia-attack-boat-will-inform-ssnx

US-China Geo-Political Invasion/Coup Equivalence

The US backing the 9 dash line control by 

ROC/Taiwan to the South China Sea

faced

the subsequent complication of claimed ownership of the South China Sea

by China.

This claim is backed up by centuries of legitimacy https://youtu.be/acojc6aZjgE .

A bit like America's unquestioned geo-strategic security patronage of the Caribbean -

not to mention all of central America and South America.

BUT it goes down to which side you are on.

I am on the US-Aussie side natürlich!

After all, did Mexico and Haiti have a choice of how many times they were invaded or couped ?

This is something the US and allies cannot simply dismiss, even on American exceptionalism grounds.

China! A French-Australian Nuclear Program Obvious

While Australia’s Trump damaged US alliance shifts to a Biden Administration Australia is again wringing its hands over “What Can We Do Against The China Threat?”

WHAT AUSTRALIA SHOULD DO

Fortunately Australia is buying the first diesel version of the French Barracuda SSN.
 
French Barracuda SSNs are relatively small and cheap compared to larger, more expensive, US observance of NPT blocked, US/UK SSNs.

The Australian public is Not Yet ready to OK Australia purchasing the French Barracuda Nuclear Propelled submarine but will be by 2030, by which time:

(A) the Chinese threat will create sufficient fear.

(B) Australia will have started building 4 diesel Barracudas (known as Attack class) from the early 2030s. There will be time to modify the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Attack class subs to the original Barracuda NUCLEAR propelled baseline and arm them with nuclear warhead cruise missiles (N-SLCMs?).

(C) If Australia sticks with the French Nuclear path the next 4 subs could be nuclear armed ballistic missile (SLBM) firing submarines, known as SSBNs. Fortunately France already has new SSBNs on the drawing board, known as SNLE 3G, to be built in France from the 2030s.

Note that France has a track record of helping Israel build a nuclear weapons establishment and Jericho MRBM/IRBMs to carry them. France then conducted Joint Nuclear Tests with Israel in the Sahara and Pacific.

From the early 2020s until the mid 2030s the US will likely decide that Australia switching such vast $ sums and a nuclear future to a French alliance is disturbing for America's military industrial complex and the US Indo-Pacific alliance.

The USA will be far more attentive and forthcoming with nuclear weapons for us - its Australian ally.

(D) If you want to get a "new idea" read an "old book", like the following article on Australian Prime Minister John Gorton's AUSTRALIAN NUCLEAR DETERRENT at http://www.smh.com.au/national/when-australia-had-a-bombshell-for-us-20080705-32ai.html

Russia's Giant Status-6 AUV/Torpedo Doctrine & Implications

Following Lee McCurtayne's comment bellow SubMatt's Status-6 article of August 28, 2020 and noting the article of November 13, 2020, I comment:

Once Russia has fully developed its giant Status-6 Nuclear tipped doomsday AUV/torpedo the other military superpower-thermonuclear powers,  US and China will do likewise. Thus sharply escalating the magnitude of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).

However, the island chains of US allies, that inhibit Russian and Chinese access to the open (Pacific, Atlantic and Indian) oceans, actually favor Russian and Chinese use of Status-6 type weapons. 

In contrast the geo-strategic advantage of unimpeded access to open ocean enjoyed by the US, Canada, UK, France, Spain, Japan, Australia and India makes for greater Tsunami danger from Status-6 weapons. 

Russia's key cities, St Petersburg, Moscow, Murmansk-Northern Fleet, Vladivostok-Pacific Fleet, Black Sea and Baltic fleets would not be directly vulnerable to such weapons. Nor would China's island chain screened Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. 

Status-6 remains a concept not fully tested, and due to its Radioactive Tsunami effect cannot be fully tested.

As Status-6 is a long term multi-month autonomous unmanned weapon - an AUV - Russia cannot have 24/7 control over it. There is no continuous line-of-sight satellite control or below water sonic countrol possible to the 1,000 meters deep diving Status-6 AUV .

During Status-6 long missions a very large, sophisticated, terrorist organisation or country (North Korea?) might Electronically take control of this weapon and explode it - say in the north Atlantic Ocean (?) where the US east coast and UK would be hit by 50m high(?) radioactive Tsunamis.

The Soviet's T-5 530mm nuclear torpedo (of less than 10kt) was designed to destroy a US carrier and close in escorts. While the giant T-15 and now Status-6 was/is of up to 100 MT explosive power designed to destroy a whole coast, like the US East Coast (from Miami, Kings Bay SSBN Base, Norfolk Carrier Base, Washington DC, New York city to Boston). 

The concept that a nuclear weapon is so terrible it would make war unthinkable has not worked since 1945. Conventional wars since 1945 have killed millions.

Trump Still Aiding Russia

President Trump’s sackings and forced resignations of US defense and intelligence heads may only benefit Trump's financial creditor, Russia.

Trump's Pentagon purge is reportedly an attempt to get troops out of the Middle East before he leaves office.

A withdrawal of US military and CIA paramilitary personnel from the Middle East could create power vacuums that Russia could fill. Russian policy for a return to influence in Afghanistan and inroads into Syria is already documented.

Russia's Nasty Giant Nuclear Armed & Propelled Torpedo

“Jive” at Sub Brief here http://youtu.be/45yXkHdYkLU?t=2m8s and below, provides new insights into Russia's giant torpedo:

2:08 explores the mid 1950s RSD-9 nuclear warhead mated to the T-5 530mm

5:10 Earlier, in 1953-54 the T-15 giant, 40 ton, 1,500mm diameter strategic nuclear torpedo had been considered . Soviet Navy decided they did not need it.

7:10 October 2001 Putin revives the giant torpedo idea

8:00 The B-90 SAROV a modified Kilo SSK appeared to have major changes for something unknown

9:45 November 2015 an illustration of a very large nuclear warhead torpedo accidently/on purpose revealed. Like the old T15 it seemed to be 1,500mm in diameter. Something new - it was to be nuclear propelled.

10:45 March 2018 the STATUS-6 POSEIDON torpedo revealed. Later called “Kanyon” by the CIA. 1.6m diameter, 24m long which can remain at sea “months at a time” and other distressing facts.

13:20 There is a stealth variant of STATUS-6 and to be a noisy super-cavitating variant

14:10 Two Russian submarines MAY eventually be able to launch STATUS-6s

15:00 Jive claims no counter to the threat yet, in part because it is an autonomous drone (ie. AUV) and long term nuclear propelled that can dive deeper than manned subs and deeper than deep diving torpedos (to sink a STATUS-6)

16:10 Its a global weapon.

16:25 It was tested from the SAROV in 2016. Russia may build 30 such AUVs which could “patrol” for months without submarine or other support.

More details at Submarine Matters about Soviet/Russia’s Nuclear Warhead Torpedos here https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2020/08/russian-status-6-giant-dronetorpedo-not.html

Russia’s restrictions on the Chakra I lease to India

Mark Episkopos for THE NATIONAL INTEREST has written a very interesting article 

“Why India Leases Some of Russia's Best Nuclear Submarines” of November 12, 2020
at https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-india-leases-some-russias-best-nuclear-submarines-172463

Especially on Russia’s 1980s restrictions on the Chakra I nuclear submarine lease to India.

Long Australian Submarine PDF

A long 84 page primer dated Novmber 2020 by experts. 

Document under copyright. See:

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-does-australia-need-12-submarines/

https://www.aspi.org.au/report/submarines-your-questions-answered

84 page Document  .PDF ( 3.19 MB ) at https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ad-aspi/2020-11/SR%20161%20Submarines_Your%20questions%20answered.pdf?wIOA0OmHVANberKRdkahqghNwBef796O

Pages 20-22: good on Australia's submarine history.

Pages 25-28: Australia's submarine history including Secret operations

Pages 31-41: 12 future Attack-class submarines

Page 45 crewing and some issues.

Nuclear issues. 

Other

Independence Class LCS Doing Well

Part Australian designed Independence class LCS doing well, unlike the Freedom class LCS: 

see https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2020/11/09/now-is-the-perfect-time-to-sink-the-freedom-class-littoral-combat-ship/?sh=76234bcb3e1d

China Coast Guard "Fire On" Law Floated: US & Philippine Impact

The China Coast Guard (CCG) would be allowed to use weapons against foreign ships in waters China claims sovereignty. This is under a proposed revision to China's maritime police/coast guard law, according to a translated version. Lets call it the "fire on law".

China routinely accuses the US of infringing its sovereignty by sending naval vessels through contested waters. China claims waters within 12 nautical mile of some Spratly and Paracel islands in the South China Sea (SCS). See map above (courtesy). These are waters the USN conducts FONOPs through with the US considering them international waters.

This Chinese announcement may have been timed to counter an earlier US Trump Administration  October 24, 2020 announcement that the US Coast Guard would base "Enhanced Response Cutters" which seems to mean Fast Response Cutters (main gun only being a 25mm autocannon) in the Western Pacific. China may positioning itself for a test of future Biden Administration resolve, after Biden is  augurated on January 20, 2021.

Also China may be facing down a Philippine intention, expressed in October 2020 that the Philippines was considering recruiting fishermen into SCS seaborne militia units similar to those used by Beijing. In early November the Philippines appeared to shelve that idea as Manila is keen to avoid “actions that would be misconstrued”.

China's consideration of a fire on law would also weaken the resolve of less formidable Southeast Asian navies and coast guards (all but Singapore's and Vietnam's relatively strong navies) to entertain any counter Chinese naval militia or CCG policies.
_________________________________________

 CCG VESSELS AND WEAPONS

The draft fire on law of course does not specify what weapons the CCG could use. Vessel classes and weapons include:

- 100+  Chinese patrol boats size “cutters” with twin 14.5mm Type 56 machine guns and
  smaller weapons.

- 70+ corvette sized (500-2,700 ton) cutters and

- 44 x destroyer sized (3,325-5,500 ton) with corvette and destroyer sizes capable of mounting 40mm up
  to 76mm guns.

- And up to 2 x Zhaotou class 12,000 ton cruiser sized cutters (CCG 2901 and CCG 3901) each armed with a 76mm gun. Foreground, above is one of the two. (Photo courtesy reddit). 

With more than 100 CCG cutters capable of mounting 40+mm guns they well and truly outgun the cutters of their coast guard opponents. This includes the 25mm guns on the 6 USCG Sentinel class/"Enhanced" Fast Response Cutters to be sent to the Western Pacific. 

Current USCG cutters may be deploying smaller guns than in the past. I can only see the Medium Endurance Cutter as having a 76mm gun.

Guided missiles and an armed medium sized helicopter can also fly off the 2,700+ ton larger CCG cutters.

See Youtube of various CCG vessels in action.

Adrian Carton de Wiart: Real Life British Hero

Biographics reports: super soldier hero, Adrian Carton de Wiart, made Britain Great again

 The Youtube is here https://youtu.be/y-E_n0q0ttI and below:

Trump (WAS) Tipped To Win Election

On Australia’s On Line Opinion, under the pseudonym “plantagenet”, on 29 October 2020 at https://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=9299&page=0

I started a discussion under with the predictive title “Trump Tipped To Win Election”.

So far it has proven more accurate than most pollsters who predicted a landslide for Biden with Biden 9% or more ahead. The discussion has attracted 102 comments so far. So what do you think of my 
29 October 2020 prediction below?:

" Trump Tipped To Win Election

Short Proposition

It is better to be pessimistic, that way you won’t be disappointed. While the collective polls at http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/national/ currently tip Biden to win on a 9% basis, collective poll predictions proved wrong in 2016.

Within the collective polls Rusmussen Reports, a very accurate pollster in 2016 http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2016/how_we_did 
sharply disagreed with the collective on 28 October 2020, tipping Trump to win by 1%.

Long Proposition

See Rusmussen's 2020 prediction here http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2020/white_house_watch_oct28

“Trump 48%, Biden 47%, Wednesday, October 28, 2020

President Trump has seesawed back into a one-point lead over Democrat Joe Biden in Rasmussen Reports’ daily White House Watch survey.

The latest national telephone and online survey finds Trump edging Biden 48% to 47% among Likely U.S. Voters. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and two percent (2%) remain undecided... The margin of sampling error is +/- 2.5 percentage points...”

The US voting system is very complicated, due to:

The President is elected according to the Electoral College System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College not directly on the popular vote. In 2016 Trump won more Electoral College votes (304 to Hillary’s 227) while Hillary won more popular votes (65,853,514 compared to Trump’s 62,984,828).

Tied to Electoral College system, Swing/Battleground/Toss-up State results often determine who wins. See this Electoral Map http://www.270towin.com/maps/biden-trump-polling-map where Trump or Biden needs 270 Electoral College Votes to win. Swing States (Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin and Iowa) are identified and predicted here http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/28/us-election-polls-tracker-swing-states-donald-trump-joe-biden .

In very close State counts disputes have been filed with State or Federal courts, perhaps ultimately for the US Supreme Court to decide. http://theconversation.com/the-case-of-biden-versus-trump-or-how-a-judge-could-decide-the-presidential-election-146367 .

This 2020 election is very unusual in that the President says he won’t accept a Biden win under the electoral system http://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/24/politics/trump-election-warnings-leaving-office/index.html .

Here's hoping Biden wins.

Posted by plantagenet, Thursday, 29 October 2020 5:13:02 PM "

Australia joins Exercise MALABAR 2020

The Australian Minister for Defence Media Release, November 3, 2020, reports:

https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/lreynolds/media-releases/australia-joins-exercise-malabar-2020

"Australia has joined key regional defence partners India, Japan and the United States for Exercise MALABAR 2020.

HMAS Ballarat will be involved in activities this month to enhance maritime interoperability in support of regional peace and security.

HMAS Ballarat will join

Indian Navy Ships Shakti, Ranvijay, Sukanya, Shivalik; Indian submarine Sindhuraj; Indian Navy aircraft;

[USS] John S. McCain

and Japanese Ship Ōnami.

Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said the imperative to cooperate closely with regional defence partners on shared challenges was stronger than ever.

“Exercise MALABAR is an important opportunity to work in concert with like-minded nations to support a secure, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region,” Minister Reynolds said.

“Participation in sophisticated exercises like MALABAR not only highlights the strategic trust between the members, but also strengthens our collective ability to contribute to regional security.

“India and Australia are natural partners in the Indo-Pacific, and Exercise MALABAR is a clear demonstration of the depth of trust and cooperation between our defence organisations.”

During the exercise, the four participating navies will conduct a range of high-end training, including air defence and anti-submarine exercises, aviation, communications and at-sea replenishment between ships.

The exercise is being conducted in two phases in the Bay of Bengal and the north of the Arabian Sea, in accordance with COVID-19 safety measures."

UK RN Submarine's Booze, Sex, Drugs, Coronavirus

They say an army marches on its stomach - well the UK Royal Navy sails on its alcohol and other vices, in excess. 

Pre 1815 to 1970 
From before the end of the Napoleonic Wars copious beer and over proof rum rations led to drunken sailors. 

1970 rum ration abolished
Due to DUI concerns not to mention nuclear weapons handling concerns. Crew instead allowed to purchase beer, with amount limited to how much could be stowed.

1986 on HMS Resolution (SSBN)
Seaman Richard Humphreys in Under Pressure: Living Life And Avoiding Death On A Nuclear Submarine, September 2019 paperback edition reports, page 175: the “crew of 143 men could drink roughly the equivalent of three cans a day for an average patrol length of, say, 60 days [= A grand total of 25,740 cans of beer per patrol, on patrol.] "...of an evening, some of the crew and I could easily be drinking at least nine to twelve cans of beer each.” 

Do times change? 

2011, April 8 on HMS Astute (SSN)
One naval officer killed and another injured in a shooting on board HMS Astute berthed at Southampton Docks. During a changeover of armed guards, 22-year old Able Seaman Ryan Donovan opened fire with an assault rifle in the sub's control room, hitting two officers before being overpowered...In the 48 hours before going on guard duty, Donovan had drunk 20 pints of cider, lager, and spirits, leaving him well beyond the drink-drive limit when on duty. Heavy drinking before duties was common practice amongst the crew.

2017, October 3 and 2017 October 9 HMS Vigilant (SSBN)
Submarine Matters reported that the Captain and his XO were removed for “inappropriate” relationships with 2 female crew members causing 5 officers to threaten to resign.

What is it about HMS Vigilant?

2020, October 14 Daily Mail reports:
“...dubbed “HMS Sex and Cocaine” has seen a coronavirus outbreak among its rule-breaking crew. Highly-secretive HMS Vigilant saw more than 35 crew members test positive after several left the Kings Bay US Navy [SSBN] base in Georgia, a source has revealed. Among those who tested positive - a quarter of the vessels team - was a doctor and an executive officer.”

2020, October 19 Daily Mail again reports:
A Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander in charge of the HMS Vigilant’s nuclear missiles was found to be drunk while on duty when he turned up for a shift with a bag of barbecue chicken. .

Stay tuned for nuclear missile armed, HMS Vigilant's, next misadventures.