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Articles by Derek Woolner
Technology unravels strategy and the weakness of AUKUS
Developments in technology, their consequences for strategic policy and challenges in sustaining Australia’s submarine warfare capability are the ultimate challenges to AUKUS. We argue elsewhere that advances in submarine battery technologies will have changed the prospects for regional undersea warfare at about the time that Australia’s first AUKUS nuclear powered submarines (SSN) become operational.
Technology unravels strategy and the weakness of AUKUS
Developments in technology, their consequences for strategic policy and challenges in sustaining Australia’s submarine warfare capability are the ultimate challenges to AUKUS. We argue elsewhere that advances in submarine battery technologies will have changed the prospects for regional undersea warfare at about the time that Australia’s first AUKUS nuclear powered submarines (SSN) become operational.
Undersea warfare is moving faster than AUKUS
Rapid advances in lithium-metal battery systems, all-electric submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles are reshaping undersea warfare well before Australia is likely to deploy an operational nuclear-powered submarine force. As the Department of Defence asserts there is no alternative to the lumbering AUKUS program, conventional submarine technology is rapidly evolving. It will constrain what Australia can do with its nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs).
Undersea warfare is moving faster than AUKUS
Rapid advances in lithium-metal battery systems, all-electric submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles are reshaping undersea warfare well before Australia is likely to deploy an operational nuclear-powered submarine force. As the Department of Defence asserts there is no alternative to the lumbering AUKUS program, conventional submarine technology is rapidly evolving. It will constrain what Australia can do with its nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs).
China and renewable energy: The global impact
China’s _renewable energy program_ is not a local curiosity. It marks a tu__r__ning point in history with profound consequences for the rest of the globe. Even though the transition has decades to run, it is already affecting the world with a foretelling of the profound changes to come. China’s embrace of renewable energy technologies is transforming its economy.
China and renewable energy: Dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
China’s deployment of renewable energy technologies is spectacular and globally dominant, but is not its primary focus. Beijing is deliberately building on the potential of these technologies to underpin a fundamental change in its economy, one that will see it become a leader in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, become the first major industrial electrostate and open the way to greater global influence. China clearly leads the global transition to renewable energy generation.
China’s not-so-quiet energy revolution: Towards the world’s first industrial electrostate
In 2023, China increased its deployment of solar and wind energy three-fold. This trend accelerated in 2024, with China installing nearly 65% of the world’s new low emission energy electricity generation. The world’s largest industrial economy is now on track to become the world’s first major industrial electrostate by around 2040, based on low-cost, low-emission electrical energy generation at unprecedented scale. China is the world’s largest industrial economy.
Chinas quiet energy revolution: the switch from nuclear to renewable energy
There is now a policy dispute about the roles of nuclear and renewable energy in future Australian low emission energy systems. The experience of China over more than a decade provides compelling evidence on how this debate will be resolved. In December 2011 Chinas National Energy Administration announced that China would make nuclear energy the foundation of its electricity generation system in the next “10 to 20 years”.
The wrong trousers: focusing on the real AUKUS issue
_The AUKUS agreement is controversial. It covers advanced military technologies whose future is contested by experts. There is also a vigorous discussion over whether the agreement has compromised Australia’s autonomy on strategic policy making and implementation. Yet this latter debate completely misses why AUKUS is at risk of failure. _ AUKUS’ “Tier One” objective is to develop the capacity of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to operate nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN).
The wrong trousers: focusing on the real AUKUS issue
The AUKUS agreement is controversial. It covers advanced military technologies whose future is contested by experts. There is also a vigorous discussion over whether the agreement has compromised Australia’s autonomy on strategic policy making and implementation. Yet this latter debate completely misses why AUKUS is at risk of failure. AUKUS’ “Tier One” objective is to develop the capacity of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to operate nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN).
China’s quiet energy revolution: The switch from nuclear to renewable energy
There is now a policy dispute about the roles of nuclear and renewable energy in future Australian low emission energy systems. The experience of China over more than a decade provides compelling evidence on how this debate will be resolved. In December 2011 China’s National Energy Administration announced that China would make nuclear energy the foundation of its electricity generation system in the next “10 to 20 years”.
China’s quiet energy revolution: the switch from nuclear to renewable energy
There is now a policy dispute about the roles of nuclear and renewable energy in future Australian low emission energy systems. The experience of China over more than a decade provides compelling evidence on how this debate will be resolved. In December 2011 China’s National Energy Administration announced that China would make nuclear energy the foundation of its electricity generation system in the next “10 to 20 years”.
Electrifying the ADF | The Strategist
There’s a rapidly increasing awareness that the global future of energy is coming, ready or not. Recent contributions to The Strategist describe very different possible Australian responses to the emerging renewable energy transformation, from David Uren and from Grant Wilson.
David Glynne Jones Archive | The Strategist
In part 1, we discussed how we ensure we get the right propulsion system for Australia’s Attack-class submarines. We argued that nuclear power is an inadvisable and improbable option and observed that lithium-ion batteries, and …
Science, Not Fiction: Modern Batteries for Modern Subs
Derek Woolner & David Glynne Jones, ASPI Strategist November 16, 2019 When we expressed concern about the Royal Australian Navy's plan to fit the first of its new Attack-class submarines with an outmoded lead–acid main battery system in over a decade's time, former RAN submarine engineer Paul Greenfield rejected our key arguments. There are a number of issues raised by Greenfield that we'd dispute.
Future-proofing the Attack class (part 2): performance and capacity | The Strategist
In part 1, we discussed how we ensure we get the right propulsion system for Australia’s Attack-class submarines. We argued that nuclear power is an inadvisable and improbable option and observed that lithium-ion batteries, and other light metal battery technology, could transform the nation’s submarine forces. Here, we examine the extraordinary acceleration in the performance of light metal batteries already being incorporated in submarines in our region.
Future-proofing the Attack class (part 1): propulsion and endurance | The Strategist
A major challenge in the decades-long program to build the Royal Australian Navy’s new submarines, the Attack class, will be ensuring that they incorporate emerging transformational advances in propulsion technology. Between 2025 and 2030, the continuing rapid evolution of lithium-ion battery technology will enable the Attack-class boats to stay fully submerged on low-speed patrols for up to 40 days without recharging. By 2035, that could increase to up to 60 days.
Blank canvas: creating a Home Affairs portfolio - Policy Forum
The Australian Government’s move to create a Home Affairs Department is welcome news, but the reorganisation of the country’s national security functions into one coherent picture will require clear-sighted brushstrokes by policymakers, Anthony Bergin and Derek Woolner write. If much of the commentary on the recent announcement of a new Home Affairs portfolio has been misleading, that’s largely because the government has issued only broad statements about its intentions.
The Collins Class Submarine Story: Steel, Spies and Spin
books.google.com.au - A unique and outstanding military and industrial achievement, the Collins class submarine project was also plagued with difficulties and mired in politics. Its story is one of heroes and villains, grand passions, intrigue, lies, spies and backstabbing. It is as well a story of enormous commitment and...
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