October 27, 2026

First USN Virginia To Rotate To Australia MAY be USS Colorado, late 2027

The Australian Submarine Agency has produced a report heavy with political spin and light on submarine technical substance - of October 27, 2026 at https://www.asa.gov.au/news-hub/first-us-submarine-assigned-srf-west 

Basically the US predicts that the first SSN to rotate (for 3 months?) to Australia's Fleet Base West under AUKUS, will likely be USS Colorado (SSN-788) in late 2027. Its a 10-year-old Block III Virginia-class. 

As the Virginias have chronic maintenance queuing problems, and Trump/Hegseth's wars may divert Colorado beforehand, the predictive announcement is more about placating Australian politicians and the RAN, than a sure thing.

4 comments:

  1. Gessler10/28/2026 10:43 PM

    Hi Pete,

    I haven't been active on the blog lately, though I kept visiting every once in a while to read the excellent articles you & Shawn have been writing.

    Just thought I'd share this news item that came up on my feed today:

    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/10/27/japan/japan-india-missile-test-sites/

    The Japanese military is apparently considering the usage of missile-testing ranges in India, for various systems possibly including the new Type-25 anti-ship missile.

    This missile appears to be a development of the 'Upgraded Type-12' that I wrote about previously:

    https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2024/12/first-images-of-japans-type-12-upgraded.html

    The Aviationist website has a good article with lots of pictures of this new missile:

    https://theaviationist.com/2026/07/30/japan-captive-carry-air-launched-type-25/

    I'm not entirely sure what is Japan's plan with regard to testing this missile in India. Or perhaps this is a cover for further testing of the Type 25 Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP)?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper_Velocity_Gliding_Projectile

    DRDO has built up extensive facilities (including ship-based telemetry systems) for full open-range testing of longer-ranged systems, including HGVs & ballistic missiles. I wonder if that's what Japan wants access to.

    Just speculation on my part.

    Cheers,
    Gessler

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10/30/2026 5:02 AM

    More on Australia's defense buildup:

    Australia considers US variant of Israel's Iron Dome to protect military bases from missile attacks:

    https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2026/australia-considers-us-variant-of-israels-iron-dome-to-protect-military-bases-from-missile-attacks

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pete210/30/2026 9:23 AM

    Hi Gessler at 10/28/2026 10:43 PM

    Thanks for the links and observations.

    It would be great if you could turn them into an article.

    Cheers Pete

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pete210/30/2026 9:31 AM

    Hi Anonymous at 10/30/2026 5:02 AM

    What with interceptors being heavily used (even used up) over Ukraine, Israel and all over the Middle East, this so called "Australia's defense buildup" may be a typical "Pie in the Sky US-Australian issue/study" for the next 20 years.

    https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2026/australia-considers-us-variant-of-israels-iron-dome-to-protect-military-bases-from-missile-attacks is long, detailed, and much is under copyright.

    I invite you to do a highly summarised article on it for SubMatts.

    Cheers Pete

    ReplyDelete

Commenters, please limit your comments to a short paragraph = 5 lines. I'm not ungrateful - but can't write 2 or 3 short articles per week if I'm fielding essay length comments. Pete.