According to Australian media reports a few days ago, the US Department of Defense is preparing to fund the expansion of Australia's Tyndall Air Force Base in order to rotate the deployment of six B-52 strategic bombers. This may only be the beginning of a new upsurge in the US military deployment in Australia. In recent years, with the United States implementing the "great power competition" strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, the military value of northern Australia to the US military has become more and more prominent, which also means that northern Australia is about to become another military town after Guam.
Why deploy 6 B-52s at Australian bases
According to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on October 31, the relevant documents obtained by the TV station from the US Department of Defense show that the US Department of Defense has allocated a budget of 14.4 million US dollars to prepare to build a special apron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Australia to support B-52 strategic bomber squadron-sized operations, ensure that B-52 strategic bombers are rotated here during the dry season every year and conduct multiple exercises (each exercise lasts at least 15 days).
Tyndall Air Force Base is located in the Northern Northern Territory of Australia, 300 kilometres south of Darwin. Australian government officials have confirmed the news and stressed that the tarmac can not only carry six B-52 strategic bombers, but will also be used to dock other types of fighters, and the project is now in the design stage. It is reported that the US military will invest $100 million in the transformation of the entire Tyndall Air Force Base, in addition to the construction of the apron, including upgrading the runway, building fuel storage facilities, ammunition depots, dormitories and related training facilities, etc., and the entire project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Google Earth photographs the current configuration of Tyndall Air Force Base in Australia
The Australian Ministry of Defense did not comment on the news, only emphasizing that since the early 80s of the last century, US strategic bombers began to visit Australia, and since 2005, US strategic bombers have carried out relevant training activities in Australia in an attempt to weaken the sensitivity of the US deployment of B-52 strategic bombers in Australia. The US Air Force announced in a high-profile manner that "the deployment of such strategic bombers by the United States in Australia demonstrates to the adversary the ability to project lethal air power and sends a strong signal." In the "National Defense Strategy Report" just released by the United States, the Pentagon clearly listed China as the primary threat of "step-by-step pressure", and the deep meaning behind the US military's operation is self-evident.
As the most important strategic strike platform of the US military, strategic bombers are deployed under harsh conditions, so the US military is also very cautious in its use, and at present, there are only four bases in the home of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, Fairford Air Force Base in the United Kingdom and Diego Garcia Air Force Base in the Indian Ocean for the global deployment of strategic bombers. An anonymous military expert told the Global Times reporter that it is clear that Tyndall Air Force Base will develop into another "springboard" for US strategic bombers in the future, and this new "springboard" obviously forms a triangular arch defense relationship with the Guam base and Diego Garcia base. In the future, Tyndall Air Force Base is likely to dock not only B-52 strategic bombers, but also strategic bombers such as B-2 and B-1B may also be deployed here at any time.
The military value of northern Australia is becoming increasingly prominent
Regarding the US intention to deploy strategic bombers at Tyndall Air Base in Australia, Malcolm Davis, an expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, believes that if a military conflict breaks out in the future, the US military bases in Guam and Okinawa, Japan, will be very dangerous. However, the deployment of US fighters in northern Australia is relatively safe, which is in line with the US military's concept of "distributed operations". He believes that this move represents the deepening of the military relationship between the United States and Australia, but there is no doubt that the risk of Australia being drawn into the Asia-Pacific military conflict has greatly increased. Becca Worther, an expert at the Center for New American Security, a US think tank, believes that the combat radius of the B-52 strategic bomber can cover Chinese mainland, which has sent a strong deterrent signal to Chinese mainland on the Taiwan Strait issue. Mr Wasser said the growing importance of northern Australia to the United States made both Darwin and Tyndall vulnerable targets in the event of conflict.
However, Australia's Minister of Northern Affairs and Resource Management, Madeleine King, defended the "United States intends to deploy B-52s" on October 31, local time, saying that it "will not increase the risk to local communities."
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) report screenshot: Australian minister said that the US sending nuclear-capable B-52s to the Northern Territory will not increase the risk to local communities
In December last year, the US Department of Defense released the Global Posture Review, emphasizing that three regions will focus on strengthening force deployment in the future: Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Australia. Admiral Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, visited Darwin in March this year, emphasizing the importance of northern Australia in adjusting the future posture of the U.S. military. Aquilino previously stressed at the U.S. congressional hearing that it is crucial for the United States to maintain a strong military presence in Guam, Japan, the Philippines and Australia in order to deal with a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait. This is a rare "key node" of military deployment identified by the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command in the US military plan.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has released a research report that the northern region of Australia is of great geostrategic value to the United States. It guards the Indo-Pacific region's extensive sea lines of communication, and the distance from the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait is not far; It has room for expansion and can build various types of military infrastructure; It has civil support facilities such as established ports and high-speed and confidential communication networks; Good environment of industrial facilities, convenient for logistics supply and equipment maintenance and maintenance; Then there's the strong alliance.
The future is as important as Guam?
In response to the policy orientation of the United States to increase military deployment in northern Australia, Australia has adopted a pandering attitude since the Morrison government and actively strengthened the construction of military infrastructure in northern Australia. In the Northern Territory alone, the Australian government has committed $8 billion in defence funds over the next 10 years to improve the infrastructure environment. Queensland and Western Australia will also receive corresponding inputs. Judging from the current situation, all branches of the US military seem to have a strong interest in northern Australia, and the deployment of US military forces in Australia will be greatly enhanced. Ashley Townshend, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the deployment of the B-52 at Tyndall Air Force Base is just the beginning, "and we will see more U.S. military personnel in Australia, including all branches of the U.S. military."
US B-52 bomber people's visual data map
The U.S. Marine Corps is the first force to be stationed in Australia, currently maintaining a rotational deployment of about 2,500 troops in Darwin. But starting this year, the U.S. Marine Corps has a regimental command post in Darwin, with rotational personnel coming more from Southern California than from Okinawa, Japan. This also means that Darwin was not built to reduce the pressure on the deployment of the US Marine Corps in Japan, and the deployment scale of the US Marine Corps will increase in the future. From the perspective of the US Army, in March 2022, the US Army established a rotational deployment task force to study the issue of rotational deployment. The U.S. Army has a stronger interest in deploying in northern Australia and has greater financial support, and with the gradual promotion of the construction of strategic equipment and material pre-deployment, fuel reserves, logistics maintenance, training and exercise facilities in Australia, the future deployment scale of the U.S. Army may be larger than that of the Marine Corps. From the perspective of the US Air Force, except for strategic bombers, all aircraft will be deployed in rotation in northern Australia. In addition to Tyndall Air Force Base, several Australian Air Force bases may be shared with the U.S. Air Force. From the perspective of the US Navy, the United States, Australia and Britain have reached an "Okus" agreement, the United States and Britain are ready to jointly build attack nuclear submarines for Australia, in order to train crew as soon as possible, Australia may allow US nuclear submarines to be deployed in Australia, and the Stirling naval base near Perth is also considering allowing US naval ships to berth.
As far as the Space Force and Cyber Forces are concerned, on the one hand, former Ministry of Defense Dutton announced at the end of last year that the Australian Department of Defense had reached an agreement with the US National Reconnaissance Office on strengthening cooperation; On the other hand, as an important site of the "Five Eyes Alliance" system, the United States is undergoing a major upgrade to deploy the Pine Valley Joint Reconnaissance Base in Australia. According to Tantel, a senior researcher at the Nautilus Institute, who spent months studying satellite imagery of Pine Valley, he believes that in the past seven years, the number of antenna positions in the base has increased by more than 1/3, and these powerful antennas can be used to eavesdrop on foreign satellites and detect missile launches. Tantel stressed that Pine Valley's powerful "ears and eyes" are now focusing primarily on China. In addition, for the most critical logistics of the battlefield, the United States built 11 giant jet fuel storage tanks in Darwin, part of which was once located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, but is now dispersed to northern Australia. The Australian government announced in 2021 that it will invest 1 billion Australian dollars to build a guided munitions factory to prepare for joint ammunition production with the United States, which will greatly facilitate the supply of ammunition to the US military.
Source: Global Times-Global Network