Our longtime ally Australia has a lot more in common with the USA than language. Though they are only 8% the size of the USA population wise, they have 79% of the same landmass.
Because of our friendly neighbors to the north and south, the USA likes to think of itself as an island nation. Australia is a no-kidding island nation.
Like the USA, they have over a century of experience fighting wars all over the world for others, while relying on the protection of her oceans to preserve her security with the enemy only rarely coming close.
Geography matters, and by that measure she should be a maritime and aerospace power with a land component. As the USA tries to figure out her strategy, it is helpful to look at what Australia sees as her priorities for the next decade.
This summary from the Australian Prime Minister works well;
“The risk of miscalculation – and even conflict – is heightening,” he is expected to say.
Mr Morrison will say relations between China and the US are fractious as they compete for political, economic and technological supremacy, but “they are not the only actors of consequence”.
“Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, the countries of south-east Asia, and the Pacific all have agency – choices to make and parts to play. So too does Australia,” Mr Morrison will say.
“There is a new dynamic of strategic competition, and the largely benign security environment Australia has enjoyed – roughly from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Global Financial Crisis – is gone.”
The new update will prioritise the ADF’s geographical focus on the immediate region – the area ranging from the north-east Indian Ocean, through maritime and mainland south-east Asia to Papua New Guinea and the south-west Pacific.
The strategy has three main objectives: to shape Australia’s strategic environment, deter actions against Australia’s interests and respond with credible military force, when required.
Their budget priorities reflect that.
What are they looking to invest in?
…the Government confirmed Australia would purchase the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) from the United States Navy, at a cost of $800 million.
The missile has a range of more than 370 kilometres and would be a significant upgrade from the 124 km range of Australia’s AGM-84 air-launched Harpoon anti-ship missile, introduced in the early 1980s.
Up to $9.3 billion will also be spent on research and development into high-speed, long-range weapons, including hypersonic weapons.
“The ADF now needs stronger deterrence capabilities,” Mr Morrison told an audience of defence leaders.
“Capabilities that can hold potential adversaries’ forces and critical infrastructure at risk from a distance, thereby deterring an attack on Australia and helping to prevent war.”
A massive underwater surveillance system using high-tech sensors and costing between $5 billion and $7 billion is one of the biggest new purchases which could eventually also include unmanned submarines.
Mr Morrison has also promised to boost the ADF’s ability to deal with what he described as the “grey zone” — activity against Australia’s interests which falls below the threshold of traditional armed conflict.
…
Labor’s defence spokesman, Richard Marles, welcomed the shift in strategy.“COVID-19 is changing the world around us, the world in which we live,” he said.
“Labor supports strong defence resilience for Australia in the face of this, that is going to be much more important … in the future than it has been in the past.”
Peter Jennings from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said the world had changed dramatically since the last Defence White Paper was released, particularly in the era of COVID-19.
“What this policy document does is it starts to increase the hitting power of the Defence Force in the short term, rather than being focused on building submarines that will be ready in the late 2030s and into the 2040s,” Mr Jennings told ABC RN.
“We’ve got to be worried about 2020 and the next 12 to 24 months or so.”
Mr Jennings said there was “only one country with both the capacity and the desire to dominate the Indo-Pacific region in a way that works against Australia’s interest”.
“We’re not talking about Canada,” he said.
Lots of good thinking going on down under. We have good friends in WESTPAC and Australia is one of the best. We should continue to grow our partnerships with them.
