The U.S. Defense Secretary and Secretary of State met with their Australian colleagues in Brisbane, Australia, and announced the agreements afterward. In an effort to counter China’s expanding influence and territorial claims in the western Pacific, the United States and Australia have agreed to increase their military cooperation.
As a result of this agreement, the United States will be increasing its rotational presence in Australia in a number of ways, including more frequent visits by U.S. submarines to a base in western Australia, greater U.S. access to airbases in northern and western Australia, enhanced cooperation between the two countries in space, accelerated efforts for Australia to develop its own guided missile production capability, and the promotion of deeper security relationships with other countries in the region, most notably Japan.
During recent discussions with their American counterparts, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong referred to the United States as a “vital ally,” adding, “It is our closest global partner; our closest strategic partner.” At a press conference following Saturday’s sessions, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles said, “All of us have felt that the alliance has never been in better shape than it is right now.”
At the same news conference, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to preserving peace and security in the region despite China’s growing influence there. Blinken, describing China’s destabilizing actions in the South China Sea and towards Taiwan, said, “Our two countries are defending the international rules based order, which has underwritten peace and security for decades and ensures that each country can make its own sovereign decisions free of any coercion.” When it comes to bolstering regional stability and deterrence, “the results of today’s discussions represent yet another major step for our alliance,” as Austin put it.
The presence of a rotating contingent of U.S. Marines conducting training exercises at Darwin, in Australia’s far north, for the past decade has been a potent deterrent, and it will only grow more so as the United States wins access to more sites in Australia. U.S. humanitarian aid supplies that could be used for disaster relief in the South Pacific region will be pre-positioned at two more airbases in that portion of Australia and another base in southeastern Australia according to the new arrangement. Submarines from the United States Navy will be making “regular and longer” visits to the HMAS Stirling naval facility in western Australia, making the American presence there more obvious.
According to a joint statement made by both countries, “these visits would help build Australia’s capacity in preparation for Submarine Rotational Force-West,” which may begin as early as 2027 and is a major milestone on the AUKUS Optimal Pathway. Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have signed a strategic security agreement called AUKUS, which will aid Australia in procuring nuclear-powered submarines that might enter service as early as 2035. Until then, the United States will ship Australia three attack submarines from the Virginia class to join the country’s existing six diesel boats.
The force posture agreements between the two countries, which were made public on Saturday, have been called “a big deal” by a senior U.S. defense official because of the positive impact they will have on regional deterrence. It’s a huge step forward that we’ve agreed to make space collaboration a central aspect of our military and defense cooperation,” Marles added. In general, “it’s actually pretty natural” that “as space evolves as a domain of human context, it becomes one of the key areas of force posture initiatives,” as Marles put it, but he did not elaborate.
Australian and American military personnel suspended the Talisman Sabre exercise on Saturday to search for four Australian service members whose chopper went down in waters near northeastern Australia. More than 30,000 military personnel from 13 nations are currently participating in the Talisman Sabre exercise in Australia, providing a concrete example of international collaboration in the space sector. U.S. Space Command has contributed to the exercise by including a Counter Communications System that can disrupt the satellite communications of an adversary.
Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEO) is an Australian program that the United States and Australia have agreed to support so that Australia can build up its own military sector. The United States has promised to help Australia with this initiative by 2025, when they plan to begin joint production of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS). Due to their widespread employment by Ukrainian troops against Russian forces, 155mm artillery shells are in great demand and could see future manufacturing in Australia under the terms of the deal.
