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☆ Australia unveils plan for largest navy buildup since World War II
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Australia on Tuesday announced plans to build its largest navy since World War II, allocating more than $35 billion for the defense project over the next 10 years, in a move analysts said pointed to heightened tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific. The independent review noted Australia had “the oldest fleet Navy has operated in its history,” according to the government statement. John Bradford, Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellow, said Australia would need to be steadfast in sticking with the plan. “This investment provides a clear pathway for the shipbuilding industry and workforce in South Australia and Western Australia,” the release said. However, the opposition Greens party called the plan a “multi-billion-dollar mistake” driven by local political concerns to protect shipbuilding jobs – and political ones.

Persons: ”, Mark Hammond, Collin Koh, ” Jennifer Parker, Parker, John Bradford, Bradford, Andrew Hastie, ” Hastie, that’s, ” Koh, Pat Conroy, Sen, David Shoebridge, CNN’s Angus Watson, Hilary Whiteman Organizations: CNN, Australia, Royal Australian Navy, US Navy, Navy, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, UNSW Canberra, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC, Hobart, Foreign Relations, Greens, ” Greens Locations: China, Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, South, Northeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Australian, South Australia, Western Australia

☆ Australia Says AUKUS a Response to Arms Race, Not Fuel for It
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Indo Pacific region is in the midst of a substantial arms race that Australia is responding to, not fuelling, with its planned acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said on Tuesday. The $245 billion AUKUS project with Britain and the United States to build a new class of nuclear-powered and conventionally armed submarine has been criticised by China as having the potential to spark an arms race. "The arms race is the greatest its been since 1945, and that is why I reject assertions... that Australia is somehow fuelling that arms race. "Conflict is far from inevitable," he said, adding that Australia cannot afford to under-invest in defence. Australia's nuclear-powered submarine fleet will be used for intelligence gathering in peacetime and to strike enemy targets during a war, Conroy said.

Persons: Defence Industry Pat Conroy, Conroy, AUKUS, Kirsty Needham, Gerry Doyle Organizations: SYDNEY, Defence Industry, National Press Club Locations: Australia, Britain, United States, China, Canberra, Southeast Asia, Philippines, South, Darwin

☆ Australia to form rapid cyber assist teams for Pacific Islands
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Australia said on Wednesday it would spend A$26.2 million ($17 million) to establish "rapid assistance" teams to respond to cyber crises in the Pacific region, and another A$16.7 million to identify cyber vulnerabilities in the Pacific Islands. The cyber security boost comes after Australia and the United States committed last month to funding two new undersea cables to be rolled out by Google in the Pacific Islands to increase connectivity for eight remote island countries. Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy said the rapid response teams would "build long-term resilience in the Pacific" and provide critical support. A second undersea cable would connect the United States to Australia via French Polynesia.

Persons: Kacper, Pacific Pat Conroy, Kirsty Needham, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Google, Pacific, Thomson Locations: Australia, Pacific, United States, Fiji, French Polynesia

☆ Australia boosts maritime surveillance with drones, aircraft upgrades
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft takes off from Perth International Airport, April 16, 2014. REUTERS/Greg Wood/Pool/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Australia will spend A$1.5 billion ($966 million) to boost maritime surveillance of its northern approaches, buying more long range drone aircraft and upgrading Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The fleet of 14 Boeing (BA.N) P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol aircraft will have anti-submarine warfare, maritime strike and intelligence collection capabilities upgraded, Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said in a statement on Tuesday. The Triton will provide long-range surveillance of Australia's maritime region, the statement said. Conroy said the Poseidon aircraft upgrades will strengthen the protection of Australian "maritime interests".

Persons: Greg Wood, Defence Industry Pat Conroy, , Conroy, Kirsty Needham, Lincoln Organizations: U.S . Navy, Perth International Airport, REUTERS, Rights, Boeing, Poseidon Maritime Patrol, Defence Industry, Northrop Grumman, Triton, United States Navy, Defence, U.S, Australian Poseidon, United Nations Security, Thomson Locations: Australia, Australia's Northern Territory, Asia, South Australia, United States, Pacific, China, Australian, South China, North Korea

☆ Australia to set up Pacific Championship in rugby league diplomacy play
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Australia said it would commit A$7 million for a Pacific rugby league championship, in a "football diplomacy" move seen as boosting Australia's soft power amid competition for influence with China. Women's and men's teams from seven countries will compete in the Pacific Rugby League Championships, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday. About half of players in Australia's National Rugby League competition are of Pasifika heritage, said Pat Conroy, the minister for international development and the Pacific. The Australian government has funded a PNG team in the Queensland state rugby competition, and a Fijian team in the NSW state competition, he said. Albanese said that the Pacific Championship will showcase women's rugby league, and that the Matildas had shown how women's sport can inspire nations.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, " Albanese, Albanese, Pat Conroy, Conroy, Mary Fowler, Kirsty Needham, Gerry Doyle Organizations: SYDNEY, Pacific, Pacific Rugby League, Pacific Islands Forum, New, Australia's National Rugby League, rugby, Fijian, league, Thomson Locations: Australia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, New South Wales, Queensland, Pacific, NSW

☆ Australia awards South Korea's Hanwha $4.7 bln defence contract
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, July 27 (Reuters) - South Korea's biggest defence company Hanwha Aerospace (012450.KS) on Thursday beat Germany's Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) to win an Australian contract worth up to A$7 billion ($4.74 billion) for building 129 infantry fighting vehicles. The deal, which Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy described as one of the largest projects in the history of the Australian army, will have a value of A$5 billion to A$7 billion. Australia has been upgrading its defence capabilities, citing the changing strategic environment in the Pacific region, where China is looking to increase its influence. Hanwha said the deal would further boost ties between Australia and South Korea and had "significant implications" for defence and economic cooperation. ($1 = 1.4780 Australian dollars)Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Alasdair Pal and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Germany's, Pat Conroy, Conroy, Hanwha, Hanwha's, Anthony Albanese, Renju Jose, Alasdair Pal, Jamie Freed Organizations: SYDNEY, Hanwha Aerospace, Germany's Rheinmetall, Defence Industry, Rheinmetall, Thomson Locations: Australia, Victoria, Pacific, China, South Korea, Germany, Sydney

☆ China leads tech race, highlighting need for AUKUS sharing, says think-tank
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. leads quantum computing - the next generation of computers expected to solve once unsolvable problems and enable faster communication. Quantum sensors could be used in threat detection for defence, ASPI said. The combined strength of AUKUS nations made them competitive with China in half of the technologies, it said. The transfer of nuclear-powered submarine technology -- an area where the U.S. holds a capability edge over China -- to Australia is the highest-profile AUKUS project. The legislative proposals are "necessary steps for the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines program," Conroy said in a statement.

Persons: Read, ASPI, for Defence Industry Pat Conroy, Conroy, Joe Biden, Kirsty Needham, William Maclean Organizations: National Congress, Communist Party of, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China, for Defence Industry, U.S . Congress, U.S . Navy, Thomson Locations: Communist Party of China, SYDNEY, China, Australia, Britain, U.S, Beijing, Russia, Germany, Baltic, The U.S, Moscow, . Virginia, Virginia, Sydney

☆ Modi, Blinken to meet Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 22 (Reuters) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken have arrived in Papua New Guinea ahead of meetings with Pacific Island leaders to discuss trade, climate change and regional security on Monday. Modi, who was met at the airport on Sunday evening by PNG Prime Minister James Marape, will hold a bilateral meeting on Monday morning, before hosting a regional summit with 14 Pacific Island leaders. Blinken is expected to sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement between the United States and PNG, and also hold a Pacific Island leaders meeting in the afternoon. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa, Vanuatu Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau, and New Caledonia President Louis Mapou were among the Pacific island leaders to arrive on Sunday. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australia's Pacific Minister Pat Conroy will also join the meetings.

☆ Australia aims to start making guided missiles within two years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, April 26 (Reuters) - Australia said on Wednesday it would start domestic manufacture of guided missiles by 2025, two years sooner than expected, in a wide-ranging shakeup of defence arrangements to focus on long-range strike capability. read moreThe timetable for domestic manufacture of guided weapons, originally set for 2027, will be hastened to within two years by allocating A$2.5 billion to the project, Defence Minister Richard Marles said in media interviews. The government was already in talks with missile manufacturers Raytheon (RTX.N) and Lockheed (LMT.N) about establishing production in Australia, Marles added. Discussions were also being held with Kongsberg (KOG.OL), the Norwegian manufacturer of the naval strike missile Australia had already agreed to purchase, he said. Pat Conroy, the minister for defence industry, said the review recommended acquiring Kongsberg's joint strike missile which would "allow us to look at manufacturing the Strike Missile family of missiles in Australia".

☆ Australia to Reshape Military Amid Growing U.S.-China Rivalry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Mike Cherney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Australia’s defense minister said the country’s navy needed enhanced lethality. Photo: roslan rahman/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesSYDNEY—A wide-ranging review of Australia’s military found that the key U.S ally needs to quickly overhaul its armed forces and focus more on capabilities such as long-range missiles, amid concerns that rising tensions between the U.S. and China could increase the chance of a conflict in the region. Australian officials said they agreed with the review’s conclusion that the country’s military isn’t fully fit for purpose in the current strategic environment. The defense industry minister, Pat Conroy, said the revamped army will eventually be able to fire weapons that can hit targets some 300 miles away, versus 25 miles now.

☆ Australia to prioritise long-range strike capability in defence shakeup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/6] Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Australian Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy and Chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Angus Campbell speak to the media at a news conference after the release of the Defence Strategic Review at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia April 24, 2023. AAP/Lukas Coch/via REUTERSCANBERRA, April 24 (Reuters) - Australia's government will prioritise long-range precision strike, domestic production of guided weapons, and diplomacy - key points of a review released Monday recommending the country's biggest defence shakeup since World War Two. Australia must also strengthen defence cooperation with Japan, India, Pacific and South East Asian nations, the review said. The review found Australia's defence force was "not fit for purpose", he said. The navy needs more smaller vessels with long-range strike weapons, with details decided after an independent analysis this year, the report said.

☆ Defence contractors target Australia as it gears up to counter China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jamie Freed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The firms are pushing for billions of dollars' worth of purchases expected after Australia's long-awaited defence strategic review (DSR) is made public next month, setting out the force structure and equipment required over the next decade. The government's aim is to "speed up the acquisition cycle" and move as quickly as possible once the review is public, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy told reporters on Wednesday. Australia ranked 12th globally in military spending in 2021 at $31.8 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Lockheed was selected last year alongside Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) to accelerate the manufacture and delivery of guided weapons to Australia. In-country assembly, and eventually manufacturing, are a focus of the project that aims to build local stockpiles, said Ken Kota, vice president of Lockheed's Australian defence strategic capabilities office.

☆ Australia's Wong to visit Pacific in bipartisan effort to boost ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The group comprises Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, senior government minister Pat Conroy, and their opposition counterparts, the politicians said in a joint statement on Sunday. Discussions would cover development objectives, the "existential threat" of climate change, and key regional security issues, the politicians said in their statement. The group, while in Vanuatu, would attend a ceremony for the handover of a new wharf and police boat "as part of Australia’s enduring cooperation on shared regional security interests". "I am pleased we are ... demonstrating Australia’s enduring commitment to strengthening our Pacific partnerships and addressing regional challenges,” Wong said. It is the first government-led bipartisan visit to Pacific island countries since 2019, they said.

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