TheLoneAmigo
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Snapshots from another timeline...
UK to withdraw from Commonwealth Nuclear Force
LONDON, Nov 3, 1986 (AFP) - Recently elected Prime Minister Tony Benn has formally announced the unilateral withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Commonwealth Nuclear Force. As was promised before the election, the decommissioning of the British component of the nuclear ICBM and long-range bomber force will begin within the next year. A timetable for the withdrawal of Royal Navy support from the Joint Submarine Force will be drawn up after talks with the remaining CNP governments.
Following the New Zealand withdrawal in 1979, this leaves Scotland and Australia as the last remaining members of the Commonwealth Nuclear Force, with Scotland likely to leave if the National Conservative Party loses the upcoming general election. While both Australian Prime Minister Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Opposition Leader Robert Hawke have confirmed their commitment to maintaining an Australian nuclear deterrent, it remains to be seen whether the Australian budget can support the cost of the nuclear deterrent force by itself.
Australia to end satellite launches from Woomera
CANBERRA, March 15, 1988 (Newswire) - Following the withdrawal of English funding from the Commonwealth Space Program, the Australian government will be forced to end satellite launches from Woomera Space Centre.
According to the Minister for Science & Technology, Peter Ryan, the cost of continuing to maintain the facilities and production for Black Prince launch vehicles cannot be sustained in the current economic climate. Following a failure to establish joint projects with the ESA, NASA, or the Japanese JAXA, the final end of the Australian Space Age will come in June this year with the launch of the telecommunications satellite AusStar-3.
British space pioneer Col. David Parkes, who was the first Englishman in space in 1973 aboard Albatross 1, was disappointed by the move. Col. Parkes, who has lived in Adelaide since the late 70s, said that the closure would condemn the Australian and English aerospace industries and leave space a closed garden for the two superpowers.
End of Australian nuclear deterrent
CANBERRA, August 13, 1997 (AP) - Australia will disarm the nuclear submarine force it inherited from the Commonwealth Nuclear Force over the next five years, says Australian Prime Minister Petro Georgiou.
Sources say that the cost of maintaining the aging fleet has simply exceeded all reasonable limits, and cannot be sustained in the post-Cold War era. With Australian peacekeeping commitments increasing in South Africa and West Papua, the stretched Australian Defense Force is already over budget and understaffed. The decommissioning of the nuclear deterrent will allow the RAAN to continue operating its sole aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered HMAS Brisbane.
UK to withdraw from Commonwealth Nuclear Force
LONDON, Nov 3, 1986 (AFP) - Recently elected Prime Minister Tony Benn has formally announced the unilateral withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Commonwealth Nuclear Force. As was promised before the election, the decommissioning of the British component of the nuclear ICBM and long-range bomber force will begin within the next year. A timetable for the withdrawal of Royal Navy support from the Joint Submarine Force will be drawn up after talks with the remaining CNP governments.
Following the New Zealand withdrawal in 1979, this leaves Scotland and Australia as the last remaining members of the Commonwealth Nuclear Force, with Scotland likely to leave if the National Conservative Party loses the upcoming general election. While both Australian Prime Minister Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Opposition Leader Robert Hawke have confirmed their commitment to maintaining an Australian nuclear deterrent, it remains to be seen whether the Australian budget can support the cost of the nuclear deterrent force by itself.
Australia to end satellite launches from Woomera
CANBERRA, March 15, 1988 (Newswire) - Following the withdrawal of English funding from the Commonwealth Space Program, the Australian government will be forced to end satellite launches from Woomera Space Centre.
According to the Minister for Science & Technology, Peter Ryan, the cost of continuing to maintain the facilities and production for Black Prince launch vehicles cannot be sustained in the current economic climate. Following a failure to establish joint projects with the ESA, NASA, or the Japanese JAXA, the final end of the Australian Space Age will come in June this year with the launch of the telecommunications satellite AusStar-3.
British space pioneer Col. David Parkes, who was the first Englishman in space in 1973 aboard Albatross 1, was disappointed by the move. Col. Parkes, who has lived in Adelaide since the late 70s, said that the closure would condemn the Australian and English aerospace industries and leave space a closed garden for the two superpowers.
End of Australian nuclear deterrent
CANBERRA, August 13, 1997 (AP) - Australia will disarm the nuclear submarine force it inherited from the Commonwealth Nuclear Force over the next five years, says Australian Prime Minister Petro Georgiou.
Sources say that the cost of maintaining the aging fleet has simply exceeded all reasonable limits, and cannot be sustained in the post-Cold War era. With Australian peacekeeping commitments increasing in South Africa and West Papua, the stretched Australian Defense Force is already over budget and understaffed. The decommissioning of the nuclear deterrent will allow the RAAN to continue operating its sole aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered HMAS Brisbane.
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