The United States and Australia have different plans to deepen defense cooperation
2024-08-17
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A U.S. Marine Corps LAV-25 light wheeled armored vehicle takes part in a military exercise in Australia.
Recently, US Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Secretary of Defense Michael Mars held the 34th US-Australia Ministerial Meeting at the US Naval Academy. After the meeting, the two sides issued a joint statement, expressing their willingness to strengthen defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Analysts pointed out that the United States is turning Australia into a medium- and long-range military strike base for the US military in the Indo-Pacific region, and related developments deserve attention.
Cooperation covers multiple fields
The report said that for a long time, the United States and Australia have carried out in-depth defense cooperation in many fields.
First, promote joint investment in infrastructure. In recent years, Australia has continued to upgrade its military bases and port facilities in the north, and the United States has also provided financial support. It is expected that Australia will invest 14 billion to 18 billion Australian dollars (about 9.2 billion to 11.9 billion U.S. dollars) this year, and the United States will invest about 630 million U.S. dollars in the next three years.
In terms of the army, Australia invested about A$37 million in January this year to upgrade the medical facilities at Robinson Camp in Darwin. The camp is a common base for the Australian Army's 1st Brigade, the 1st Aviation Regiment and the US Marine Corps' rotational forces in Australia, with a total of 4,500 people stationed. In terms of the navy, the 322-meter-long Kuru Wharf, which cost A$210 million to upgrade, was put into use in July and can dock large amphibious ships of the Australian and US navies. In terms of the air force, bases such as Sherge, Learmonth and Townsville are upgrading infrastructure such as fuel reserves, communications and runways. Among them, the upgrade project of the Tindal base is funded by the United States. The newly built extended apron at the base can accommodate 6 B-52 bombers.
The second is to promote the joint research and development of weapons and equipment. The United States and Australia have stated that they will conduct in-depth cooperation on projects such as the MH-60R "Sea Hawk" helicopter and hypersonic cruise missiles. At present, the two countries have made certain progress in precision-guided weapons and ammunition projects. In January this year, the Australian Department of Defense signed a contract worth 37.4 million Australian dollars with Lockheed Martin, planning to produce precision-guided rockets from next year. In addition, the two countries have reached a preliminary agreement on the manufacture of precision strike missiles, and plan to sign a memorandum of understanding on joint production, maintenance and subsequent development before the end of this year, and set up a joint project office to promote cooperation.
The third is to strengthen joint exercises and training between the two countries' militaries. In addition to holding joint exercises such as "Guardian Sabre" on a regular basis, the United States and Australia also took the lead in organizing the "Pacific Rim" and "Pitch Black" multinational joint exercises. The latest joint statement further emphasized the importance of strengthening joint exercises and training between the US military rotational forces stationed in Australia and the Australian Defense Force. The rotational forces of the US Marine Corps in Darwin have grown from 250 in 2012 to 2,500 now. In March this year, the 13th batch of rotational forces arrived in Australia and planned to conduct joint training and phased exercises with the Australian Defense Force for 6 months. The US Air Force also plans to regularly send bombers and fighters to the Tindal and Darwin bases in northern Australia to participate in joint exercises and training. The regular rotation models covered include F-35 fighters, B-52 bombers and tankers.
There are political calculations behind
The United States and Australia are actively carrying out multi-faceted defense cooperation, which not only reflects the common goals of both sides, but also reflects their respective special needs.
On the one hand, the United States attaches great importance to Australia's geographical location and industrial manufacturing potential. A report released by a US research institute pointed out that from a defense perspective, Australia's geographical location has obvious advantages over Hawaii, Guam, Okinawa, etc. The coalition forces stationed in Australia can not only project power to the entire Asia-Pacific region to form a deterrent, but its location is also beyond the strike range of most long-range precision strike weapons of potential opponents. In particular, Australia's military bases and ports in northern Australia are close to many Southeast Asian countries, which is conducive to strengthening regional ties. A bidding document in June this year showed that the United States and Australia plan to expand the airport runway in the Cocos Islands. The island is an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, about 3,000 kilometers from the Australian mainland, in the waters south of Sumatra Island, Indonesia, near the strategic Strait of Malacca. The United States and Australia may deploy P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft and large drones on the island to monitor the strait channel and further enhance regional situational awareness and deterrence.
In addition, the United States plans to include Australia in its defense industry supply chain to enhance its own manufacturing capabilities. To this end, the United States is trying to add Australia as a "domestic source" stipulated in the U.S. Defense Production Act so that the United States can purchase important resources from Australia and share key technologies with it. Currently, the United States is also promoting the realization of defense trade between the United States and Australia without further authorization, thereby accelerating the integration of the industrial advantages of both sides.
On the other hand, Australia hopes to enhance its regional influence by introducing advanced technology from the United States. Recently, Australian Defense Minister Mars said in an interview that through cooperation with the United States, "Australia's defense industry will achieve milestone technological progress." He pointed out that taking the nuclear submarine project as an example, Australia can start with maintenance and gradually achieve local construction. He also emphasized that the content of the "second pillar" in the US-UK-Australia "Ocus" agreement will enable Australia to obtain other key advanced technologies from the United States, such as quantum positioning and navigation, space radar detection and maritime artificial intelligence, so as to seize the initiative in the development of the future defense industry.
Future development prospects are unpredictable
More and more Australian media and experts have questioned the various practices of the US and Australia in deepening defense cooperation. They believe that the US is strengthening defense cooperation with Australia in the name of maintaining regional security, but in fact it is trying to seize regional interests for itself and seek an advantageous position in strategic layout, which will not only intensify regional competition, but may also make Australia face a worse security environment.
Australia's defense autonomy may be restricted after it shares military bases with the United States on a large scale. Former Australian Prime Minister Keating recently publicly criticized the current government's move to strengthen the US military presence, saying it "has turned Australia into the 51st state of the United States."
In addition, Australia's goal of obtaining advanced American technology is difficult to achieve. An international relations expert at the University of Western Australia commented: "At present, it seems that the advanced capabilities that Australia can obtain before 2030 are limited to the army's precision artillery shell manufacturing technology. This is actually more like helping the United States solve the problem of insufficient production capacity. What Australia needs more is the key technical capabilities of the navy and air force." As for the nuclear submarine project that Australia attaches great importance to, it must wait until the needs of the US Navy are met before Australia can receive second-hand nuclear submarines and enter the queue production of new submarines, which will seriously affect the progress of Australia's underwater capability building.
There are also views that the results of the US presidential election at the end of this year and Australia's parliamentary election next year may have a significant impact on their defense cooperation strategies and military spending. It is worth paying attention to whether the two sides can continue to deepen their defense cooperation in the future or just maintain the status quo.
(Source: China National Defense News)
