Former Navy chief Michael Noonan on AUKUS, nuclear submarines, and Australian sea power

<p><strong>In this special episode of the <em>National Security Podcast</em>, we kick off a mini-series exploring the AUKUS technology-sharing arrangement, a year on from its announcement.&nbsp;</strong></p><br><p>The AUKUS technology-sharing arrangement – between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia – is set to, among other things, fundamentally change the nature of Australian sea power and introduce nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy. ANU National Security College has produced a podcast mini-series, a year on from the AUKUS announcement, exploring its background, implications, and the implementation challenges ahead – for Australia in particular. In the first episode of this series, recently retired Vice Admiral Michael Noonan – former Chief of the Royal Australian Navy – joins Professor Rory Medcalf. They discuss the strategic challenges that led to AUKUS, nuclear submarines, the role of sea power for Australia and more.</p><br><p><strong>Vice Admiral Michael Noonan AO RAN (Retd) </strong>assumed command of the Royal Australian Navy in 2018 and retired in 2022.</p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p><strong>Professor Rory Medcalf</strong> is Head of ANU National Security College. His professional experience spans more than two decades across diplomacy, intelligence analysis, think tanks, and journalism.</p><br><p><em>We’d love to hear from you! Send in your questions, comments, and suggestions to&nbsp;</em><a href="mailto:NatSecPod@anu.edu.au" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>NatSecPod@anu.edu.au</em></a><em>. You can tweet us&nbsp;</em><a href="https://twitter.com/NSC_ANU" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>@NSC_ANU</em></a><em>&nbsp;and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes. The National Security Podcast is available on&nbsp;</em><a href="https://play.acast.com/s/the-national-security-podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Acast</em></a><em>,&nbsp;</em><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-national-s