Should Australia build large numbers of MTBs, submarines, and fast Abdiel-derived minelayers for regional sea denial?
Short answerThe mine-warfare concept is strong, but simpler minelayers would deliver more useful hulls for the available industry.
NotesThe proposal uses Australia's small yards for motor torpedo boats while larger facilities support submarines, torpedoes, and mine production. Those forces could seed chokepoints around New Guinea, Timor, Indonesia, and the Great Barrier Reef, turning geography into a distributed sea-denial system. The operational logic is sound, but Abdiel derivatives would demand precision engineering to reach their extreme speed. A simpler minelayer could be made somewhat faster without the same technology burden, and four or five might be built for the difficulty of two or three Abdiel-class ships.