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In order to project military power into the South China Sea, the US military is strengthening military infrastructure in northwestern Australia, making it an important base for the US military to project military power in the event of a conflict in the South China Sea. The US National Defense Authorization Act has allocated more than $300 million for this purpose, attempting to make northern Australia the site of the largest overseas construction project for the US Navy and Air Force. This military engineering plan has directly made Darwin Port in Australia a hot topic of public attention.

The US is trying to build a massive military base in Australia

Reuters recently disclosed such a news: As Sino-US relations continue to be tense, the United States is implementing a major plan to disperse the US military across the Indo-Pacific region in order to reduce the possibility of major losses caused by attacks on military facilities. Under this major plan, northern Australia has once again become a key stronghold of the US military in the Indo-Pacific region with an extremely important strategic position. It is said that the United States is currently spending money to build a military base and related military facilities here that can accommodate B-52 strategic bombers, "Raptor" stealth fighters (F-22), "Lightning" fighters (F-35) and various large military transport aircraft and tankers.

The construction of these projects is scheduled to start between 2024 and 2025. The military engineering projects to be built include intelligence briefing rooms, maintenance hangars, etc. Reuters reporters were allowed to visit the area, where a giant oil depot has been completed.

In fact, the US military is worried about the PLA's long-range attack capability. In recent years, the PLA's long-range precision strike capability has been rapidly improving.J-20、J-16as well asbomberThe air refueling drills have become more mature, and with the support of the Y-20 tanker, the PLA military aircraft's combat range has been greatly improved. Breaking through the first island chain and approaching the second island chain has become a normal operation. Moreover, the Chinese Navy still has aircraft carriers.ShandongAircraft carriers have approached Guam many times. Aircraft carriers can further send fighter jets to the Philippine Sea. If we consider the futureFujianRe-entryJ-35, it is estimated that the deterrence felt by the United States is probably even greater.

However, what worries the United States most at the moment is the People's Liberation Army's missiles. In the past few years, China's missile research and development technology has made great progress, especially inHypersonicIn the field of missiles, China has surpassed the United States. The United States has been struggling for so many years and is still in the research and development stage, while China has already developed and put into service multiple versions of hypersonic missiles, whose strike range is enough to cover the entire first island chain. Against this background, the United States has begun to consider dispersing its military forces. Otherwise, if the military forces are concentrated in one place, it is easy to be wiped out by the PLA's long-range precision strikes of missiles.

The United States is worried about China's hypersonic missiles, so it disperses its troops in the Indo-Pacific

The reason why Australia was chosen is mainly because of the South China Sea. Since the first island chain has lost its strategic security, the United States can only look for new strategic support. Indonesia is very close to the South China Sea, but its relationship with the United States is average, while its relationship with China is very warm. Further south of Indonesia is Australia, which is a traditional ally of the United States. In the past, the United States also had a history of stationing troops and building military bases in Australia.

According to Reuters, Darwin in the northwest of Australia is closer to the Philippines than to Canberra, and an important military base in the region is not only garrisoned by Australia, but also has rotational deployments of the U.S. Marine Corps for six months each year. In addition, the Tyndall Air Base, located hundreds of kilometers south of Darwin Port, has also become a base for U.S. military aircraft to participate in joint exercises in recent years.

It seems that the United States has long been optimistic about this area. An Australian military personnel revealed that the United States is paying for the renovation of the Darwin and Tyndall bases, and this money can only be paid by them because these military facilities serve the US military and will support the US military's potential wartime operations.

In addition to northern Australia, the US Navy is also seeking contractors to bid for the construction of new docks, runways, fuel depots and hangars in Australia's northern neighbors Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

In the eyes of the US military, building a base in Australia will facilitate the safe deployment of military forces to the South China Sea in the future.

In the past two years, as the situation in the South China Sea continues to heat up and the dispute between China and the Philippines over the Ren'ai Reef continues to escalate, the US strategic community is increasingly inclined to believe that the probability of a conflict in the South China Sea is higher than in the Taiwan Strait. Now that the US military is building a military base in Australia, it is probably to more safely deploy military forces to the South China Sea in the future.