Looking back. Under the then new Australian Prime Minister (Turnbull) Japan and Germany's loss was France's 2016 SSK gain - but only until 2021.
The 2021 AUKUS SSN new choice was Morrison's and Johnson's (both gone) and Biden's. Biden is the last, albeit ineffectual, AUKUS triplet. A visibly aging Biden will be an 82yo President on the outside chance he's Inaugurated in 2025.
The extremely expensive, conventional weapon limited, Australian SSN issue now belongs to new Prime Minister Albanese, whose administration is now reassessing all Australian defence issues.
In 2016 after the winning Aus SSK announcement I mentioned France's ability to possibly later offer SSNs as an advantage over TKMS. In that same article I also raised the issues of possible future China and Trump threats.
Might 2016 concerns continue to be relevant in 2022-2025?
2025 may bring a possible return of US Trumpist isolationism making the AUKUS SSN option even harder, more expensive and late compared to France offering cheaper, already in production, Barracuda SSNs, in the more immediate future.
I humbly suggest Australia's Nuclear Powered Submarine Taskforce should give highly developed consideration to France's SSN as a Plan B if AUKUS submarine Plan A continues to prove an overly late, expensive and high risk option.