The Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR) carries a very interesting article: French “Arianespace Increases Engagement With Australian Industry” of January 11, 2023.
PETE COMMENT
French-Australian space cooperation would be a useful addition to Australia’s very long range military missile prospects. This would be an alternative to Australia’s Abbot Point (Gilmour) Spaceport project which is heavily US orientated.
It is significant that civilian ArieneSpace’s military associate is French ArianeGroup which designed France’s latest M51 SLBM– basically a submarine launched ICBM.
France Helping Israel
The extent of French booster/missile help to Israel might have possibilities for Australia. Going back to the early 1960s a past generation of French dual civilian-military rocket/missile technologists, working for Dassault, assisted Israel with the Syria-Egypt targeted Jericho I SRBM and Israel’s nascent satellite launch industry.
Covert French contractor assistance later contributed to Israel’s:
- Jericho II MRBM within range of Arab, Turkish and, of course, Iranian targets,
and
– Jericho III ICBM which entered service in 2011, with possible targets including Pakistan, Russia and China.
The Jericho III has booster commonalities to Israel's Shavit 2 space launch vehicle, which, launched in Israel, can deploy large Low Earth Orbiting military satellites.
Australia is already experiencing the US’s typical mixed-message, indecisive signals that it won't supply Virginia SSNs. This signals that Australia cannot rely on the US to assist in the more politically difficult Australian nuclear weapon capability.
The US has an unpredictable and inconsistent non-proliferation position versus de facto acceptance of new nuclear weapon "haves" (eg. India and Israel) record to uphold.
Israel and France’s nuclear weapon industry (less reliant on US Anglosphere direction) might assist an Australian ICBM, SSK or SSN hypersonic missile and aircraft delivered nuclear weapon program.
In that regard Australia can barter secure re-entry landing and other testing services at Woomera, other space observation facilities, submarine communication facilities and Uranium as part “payment” for French-Israeli assistance.