NPR did a good story on the issue of subs. The French bid was for diesel subs, not nukes. They have built about 6 nuclear subs since the 1980s. The Aussies told the French that the bid was insufficient. There were no signed contracts with the French company and negotiations had been on going. The US/British bid was for nuclear subs with current electronic warfare capabilities and a range of weapons systems the French couldn't match.
Sucks to lose, but there is no reason to think anything was done to slight the French....they couldn't compete. The US currently has 7 nuclear attack subs under construction.