GareyBaldo

One should note that diplomatic dealings are not going to be reported in the press. What gets reported in the press is what is announced and/or what is leaked (on purpose).

We comment on what we think is diplomatically callous without actually knowing if/when France was informed. I think that France's best option, domestically, is to act surprised in order to save face. What should they do otherwise, after losing such a huge deal in a lucrative region? Honest question. What would you recommend France do in response, even if they realized there were substantial issues months ago and a real risk of losing the contract?

There is a lot of speculation without anyone here likely knowing what the truth is.

Concur. Unlikely to find prompt jumps in design that weren't previously field tested. Technologies pioneered by Seawolf class were rolled into the VA class, but ultimately decades of building 688s was more valuable than 3 Seawolfs (seawolves?)

Are you? That's a strange response. Your question is a non sequitur.

These articles leave a bad taste in my mouth because they give far more credit to the sonar shack than they deserve, with the implications that they're motivated and nobody is asleep at their console.

I can attest to this being much louder than any active sonar in the water.