Re: A hint at the UK's future
It's interesting that the UK is involved in this, rather than just the US. In general I believe Aussie military kit is interoperable with the US first and any other potential partners next. Because that's the navy they expect to be in their waters. So the Aussies are buying our type 26 ASW frigate design for example, as are a few other allied nations (Canada + can't remember). But they Aussies aren't having the decent air defence system we're fitting - but are going for the US AEGIS system - so they can fully integrate with US ships. Which clearly makes sense for them.
I'm sure they don't need technological help from both the US and UK. But there is an advantage to asking both, because they can then play Rolls Royce off against the US manufacturers for the reactors - which I'm going to guess they won't build domestically. Although on checking I see the US have already got 3 of their own manufacturers, so I'm surprised they're bothering. but I guess it also helps with buying in the sonars and other plant, if they don't have their own from previous subs.
Advancing one of the only industries that the UK still has and is extremely successful. (Weapons)
This is utter balls though. People really do need to get a sense of perspective about their own country. The UK is the world's fifth largest economy. It's the second largest exporter of services in the world and the 9th (last time I checked, let's just say top ten) largest exporter of manufactured goods.
We have a massive and hugely successful pharmaceutical industry. We've also actually got a large (and growing in the last two decades) car industry. Admittedly nationalisation didn't do a lot for the domestic companies, so we're doing manufacturing of other cars. But the reason the UK is top in world motor racing design and manufacture is that we've also got a lot of car research and design going on here - or possibly the big car companies have come here for design because of the motor racing? Or both. Add in aircraft. Weapons, as you mentioned. But also lots of other engineering stuff goes on in Blighty.
Then we come on to services. Where we're a huge exporter of architecture and building design services. I've worked on loads of projects in the Middle East and North Africa where the first question you ask will be, is this being done to US or UK building regulations? ARM, is of course a UK company - again selling design services. Much of global insurance, currency and commodities trading happens in London. Plus we're a rather large exporter of legal services - lots of international contracts get done under UK law or have UK arbitration clauses - thus keeping London full of lawyers and bankers. Ooh, lucky us...
Oh and to mention the bloody pandemic, much of the research on what treatments to use came from the UK. Most of that was what pre-existing drugs to use, but UK pharma has also come up with a few new drugs that also help. Not to mention a certain vaccine that's now been given to a billion or so people with 3 billion doses planned this year. I understand that the UK only had one vaccine factory (other than ones for test doses) before all this kicked off - which was for cat vaccines. Although the government was in the process of building one, to come on stream next year, so they could start taking advantage of the Jenner institute's process, presumably for the malaria vaccine. However we now do have a vaccine industry, because it's not just AZ that set up factories, so that should be another export area. Though I can imagine much of that might end up being paid for by us taxpayers, as the UK has been buying vaccines made in India for various global programs for twenty years - and I guess we might start buying those here.