Login
iscover
The US has formalised its commitment to bolster its military presence in Australia.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong have concluded the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) with their US counterparts — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.
The parties have agreed to formalise Enhanced Force Posture Cooperation, first announced in 2021 under the Force Posture Agreement.
This represents a ramp up in the United States military’s presence in Australia via Enhanced Land Cooperation, Enhanced Maritime Cooperation, and the Combined Logistics, Sustainment, and Maintenance Enterprise.
This includes US Bomber Task Force rotations and future rotations of US Navy and US Army capabilities.
To facilitate this expansion, the counterparts have agreed to identify priority locations in Australia for the development of critical infrastructure, including runway improvements, parking aprons, fuel infrastructure, explosive ordnance storage infrastructure, and workforce support facilities.
“Recognising logistics cooperation is a key line of effort for force posture cooperation, the principals decided to preposition stores, munitions, and fuel in support of US capabilities in Australia and to demonstrate logistics interoperability through joint exercises,” the counterparts noted in a joint statement.
As part of the commitment to support Enhanced Air Cooperation, Australia and the United States have agreed to co-develop agile logistics at nominated airfields — including at bare bases in the Top End.
This is expected to support “more responsive and resilient” rotations of US aircraft.
Additionally, Australia and the United States have agreed to expand locations for US Army and US Marine Corps forces, to support exercises, activities, and further opportunities for regional engagement.
This is tipped to include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations across the Indo-Pacific.
The nations have also committed to bolstering engagement with Japan by enhancing trilateral defence cooperation activities and inviting Japan to increase its participation in Force Posture Initiatives in Australia.
The formalisation of the Enhanced Force Posture Cooperation coincided with a renewed commitment to defence technology sharing under the AUKUS partnership.
Deputy PM Marles, Secretary Austin, and UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace released a separate statement outlining the progress of the agreement.
The trio lauded the progress of negotiations surrounding the selection of a preferred pathway for the delivery of nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy, adding a final decision is expected in “early 2023”.
The AUKUS partners reaffirmed their shared commitment to “accelerate near-term delivery of technologies” in a bid to enhance capability and interoperability.
Notably, the trio outlined plans to explore advanced trilateral maritime undersea intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, leveraging the nations’ respective autonomous systems to enhance maritime domain awareness.
Accordingly, the nations have agreed to “intensify engagement” with defence industry and academic communities as of the start of 2023.
[Related: AUKUS partners laud SSN progress, eye uncrewed ISR collaboration]
