Australia Now Has Submarine Command Course

Submarine commanders for the RAN have always been trained overseas. See SubMatt’s 2020 list.

Now Australia’s Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR) October 4, 2022 reports an Australian Government announcement:

“Australia has successfully launched a sovereign training program to produce its next generation of submarine commanders, with two Royal Australian Navy submariners passing the inaugural Australian Submarine Command Course. The international-standard course culminated in a rigorous sea-phase that tested participants in undersea and special warfare scenarios.”...

MORE SEE APDR 

Pete Comment

It will be interesting if SSK officers from foreign navies, particularly Canada’s, will now attend this Australian course.

An Australian course is good news, though there may be a potential problem. As Australia has always had a major shortage of submarine commanders, who have risen through RAN ranks, hopefully there will be no undue Australian Government political pressure to pass all prospective Australian submarine commanders.

Australian commanders for our future SSNs will be a different, much longer project - probably taking place on UK Astutes in the next 16 years or later.