AUKUS News, Views, Analysis.

However, dealing with China would be very different. It could be more intense and destructive and it is likely to be a battle that the US has no clear way of winning. A war with China will not save the US strategic leadership in Asia on which Australia has for so long depended.
Australia must therefore think deeply not just about whether the Aukus plan is the best way to build its new submarines, but also whether continued dependence on its old Anglo-Saxon guardian is the best way to secure its future in Asia.

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Among the recommendations are a scaling back of the infantry fighting vehicle project, known within defence circles as “Land 400 Phase 3”.

The army had planned to acquire up to 450 infantry fighting vehicles at a cost of up to $27bn to replace Australia’s Vietnam war-era vehicles – the review recommends reducing that number to 129.

The review is also expected to recommend the immediate cancellation of the second phase of the army’s self-propelled howitzer project (Land 8116 Phase 2). This project had been set to begin in the late 2020s.

Other projects that the review argues should be “accelerated and expanded” include one to acquire a land-based maritime strike capability. The project (Land 4100 Phase 2) will enable ground forces to strike ships at sea.

Projects to be fast-tracked and expanded also include the acquisition of army landing crafts and long-range fires (Himars).

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The defence strategic review, released today, called for the ADF to develop the ability to precisely strike targets at longer range and develop a stronger network of bases, ports and barracks across northern Australia.

The Albanese government has also opened the door to potential changes to the number of Hunter class frigates and offshore patrol vessels to be purchased by Australia, with a snap review of the navy’s surface fleet needs to report back later this year.

The government also said it would consider options to increase stocks of guided weapons and explosive ordnance, including the rapid establishment of domestic manufacturing.

The public version of the final report did not label China direct military threat to Australia, but said China’s assertion of sovereignty over the contested South China Sea “threatens the global rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific in a way that adversely impacts Australia’s national interests”.

The review called for a renewed focus on “how we manage and seek to avoid the highest level of strategic risk we now face as a nation: the prospect of major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest”.

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A base on the Solomon Islands or Vanuatu would bring the Chinese military within just 2000 kilometres of the Australian mainland and upend the current balance of power in the south Pacific.

“The message was, ‘You’re f---ed’,” one source who was familiar with the review but not authorised to speak publicly said of the war-gaming exercises.

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Scott Morrison has taken up an advisory position at a Washington-based think tank, amid speculation the former prime minister will quit politics by the end of the year.

Mr Morrison will now be on the board of advisors for the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), an independent think tank focusing on national security and defence policies.

He joins Rupert Murdoch's son James on the board.

[....] CNAS was set up in 2007 by Kurt Campbell, who is now the Biden administration's National Security Council Co-ordinator for the Indo-Pacific.

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Lethe said:

Democracy in action, folks.

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China says it will consult Australia on any future Sino-Pacific island security pacts after a policing agreement with the Solomon Islands took the region by surprise.

The region's central body, the Pacific Islands Forum of which Australia is a part, has said any security deals or propositions needed to come through the forum and any problems should first be addressed by member states.

China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian defended the secret security pact with Honiara, saying it was about policing as the Pacific nation didn't have a defence force.

The ambassador said Beijing has opened its dialogue with Canberra to work together in the region.

He said Beijing was periodically briefing Australia through diplomatic channels about its relationships with nations in the region.

"We respect Australia's role as the biggest country in this region. That's why we will be notifying in advance about our relationship with Pacific island countries to the Australian side," he said on Thursday.

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Strangelove said:

$32 million a day for the next 32 years (at minimum).... to build a new fleet of nuclear submarines, LOL.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1651371496680615937

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