Marcus and Michael go through the scandalous revelations about 10 years of failed planning on extending the operational life of the only submarines Australia has – the 6 Collins class – while AUKUS subs slowly appear. Disturbingly, the most senior Defence leadership – including the Secretary and the Chief of Navy (just promoted to be the chief of the entire military) were advised numerous times of insurmountable technical and engineering issues with the planned life extension. The main motors and diesel generators took up more room and would require a major redesign of the entire submarine, and the result would be a sub that had to “snort” for longer and so be more vulnerable. The whole project collapsed under the weight of its flaws because an external Audit got the story out.

But for years, the leadership failed to advise Government ministers. A report by a former US Defense official belled the cat in 2024 to ministers, but neither ministers nor the Defence senior leadership revealed the scandals to the public or the Parliament. Instead they kept spending $100s of millions on failure. The result is Australia’s only submarines are now in aged care, limping along until the AUKUS cavalry turns up. Meanwhile, the leadership has had promotions all round.

This is an insight into how AUKUS is being managed by our Defence leaders and ministers.

The episode ends with a dose of truth from the UK’s First Sea Lord that the Royal Navy’s pursuit of ever bigger, ever more expensive platforms is a mistake – as the huge Dreadnought subs, the Type 26 and SSN-AUKUS projects sail on eating the UK military’s future.