Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,094

    Australia seeks long-range missiles in Indo-Pacific defence shift

    Australia says it will significantly increase military spending and focus on the Indo-Pacific region amid rising tensions between the US and China.


    PM Scott Morrison pledged A$270bn (£150bn; $186bn) to Australia's arms budget over 10 years - a 40% boost.
    He said Australia would acquire long-range missiles and other capabilities to "deter" future conflicts.


    It was necessary because the region was the "focus of the dominant global contest of our age", he added.


    Mr Morrison named several areas of tension including the border between India and China, and conflict over the South China Sea and East China Sea.


    It follows deteriorating relations between Australia and China - which are widely seen to be at their worst in decades.



    What is Australia spending money on?


    The new defence capability budget - about 2% of GDP - replaces a previous decade-long strategy, set only in 2016, which had set aside A$195bn.


    Mr Morrison said much spending would go to upgrading arms and equipment.


    Australia will purchase from the US Navy up to 200 long-range anti-ship missiles, which can travel up to 370km (229 miles). It will also invest in developing a hypersonic weapons system - missiles which can travel thousands of kilometres.
    Up to A$15b would be spent on cyber warfare tools - which the prime minister noted "says a lot about where the threats are coming from".


    Last month, he warned that Australian institutions and businesses were being targeted by cyber attacks from a "sophisticated state actor". The remarks were broadly interpreted as aimed at China.



    Why does Morrison say this is necessary?


    He said tensions between the US and China had accelerated in recent years and their relations now were "fractious at best".
    The pandemic had worsened these tensions and put the global security order at its most unstable point in decades. The region was also seeing "military modernisation" at an unprecedented rate, he said.

    "The largely benign security environment... that Australia has enjoyed, basically from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the global financial crisis, that's gone," he said.


    "The risk of miscalculation - and even conflict- is heightening."


    He said Australia would vigorously defend its democratic values and those of others in the region, adding that increasing military capabilities would help "to prevent war".


    Under the 2016 strategy, military priorities had been split equally across that region but also on operations with Western allies, such as US-led missions in the Middle East.



    What's been the reaction?


    The Labor opposition has welcomed the change in strategy, saying it had long called for greater military focus on the region.


    Analysts say the change shows Australia is trying to be strong in its own region and on its own resources.


    "There's a great emphasis, implicitly, in Mr Morrison's speech, in recognising the rise of China and also that America may not be as big a help as it has been in previous years," said Sam Roggeveen from the Lowy Institute.

    Many have also interpreted the shift as Australia taking a more defined opposition to China's increasing influence in the region.


    Relations with its biggest trading partner have further deteriorated in recent months, following Australia's push for a global probe into the origins of the Covid-19 virus.

    Australia seeks long-range missiles in Indo-Pacific defence shift - BBC News

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    Buy a good attack sub. There's some invading chinky ships need a-sinking.

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    Last I knew, most of Australia's sub fleet (all 6 of them) was inoperational at any given time, due to both maintenance and the fact the Australian Navy can't hire enough submariners to crew them! Plus, all 6 are located in WA, south of Perth- a bit awkward if someone decides to invade the east coast, where most of our population is.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Last I knew, most of Australia's sub fleet (all 6 of them) was inoperational at any given time, due to both maintenance and the fact the Australian Navy can't hire enough submariners to crew them! Plus, all 6 are located in WA, south of Perth- a bit awkward if someone decides to invade the east coast, where most of our population is.
    Currently there are 800 sailors for the sub fleet, up from 500 a few years ago . . . but yes, manning the fleet is an issues . . . as for WA . . . luckily subs can move

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    12,009
    They could lend-lease some of Thailand's Chinese subs when they arrive, if they turn out to be waterproof.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    41,562
    Some timely paraphrasing but Scott Morrison really is a wannabe-Trump innit -- however whereas Trump seems more Midwich Cuckoos who never wanted to do the top job, just wanted the win, the title and the kudos that goes with it, without actually having to do the hard yards that he's clearly not equipped to Morrison, on the other hand, seeks to return us to a rosy Menziean past where quiet suburban Australians, overwhelmingly White or thoroughly-assimilated Others, go to work, go to the footy, go to "Christian" church and go to bed when they're told while his party loots the common wealth.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •