"US transforms Australia into military base – Guardian" According to the journal, American armed forces and contract contractors have access to about two-thirds of Australian military facilities."

As the Guardian paper reported on Sunday, the United States is transforming Australia into an advanced base for possible military operations in the Pacific; US armed forces and defence companies control or have access to about two-thirds of Australian military facilities.

The newspaper, citing the data developed by the Nautilus Institute for safety and Sustainability, indicated that out of 168 analyzed facilities in Australia, 110 reported any form of U.S. military or corp presence.

The US Armed Forces straight control 17 facilities, including Pine Gap intelligence complex in central Australia, which plays a key function in American reconnaissance activities and military operations.

This facility monitors rocket launches, intercepts communications, and provides U.S. forces worldwide with the data needed to set targets.

Other installations include a naval communications station in Western Australia to communicate with submerged American submarines, and an Air Force Base (RAAF) Tindal in the north of the country, which is being expanded to accept capable of carrying atomic weapons B-52 Stratofortress bombers.

"These machines can land on Australian dirt by moving atomic weapons. The U.S. government does not inform Australia whether and erstwhile this happens. The Australian Government does not ask that” – wrote "The Guardian".

In addition to the facilities controlled directly, the US military has access to tens of another Australian installations, and the following are US arms companies specified as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

According to Nautilus Institute data, 41 of 168 subjects surveyed do not show crucial U.S. presence, and the position of another 17 remains indeterminate.

American presence is besides expanding.

In June, AFP reported that the US was preparing to make a permanent depot in Australia ready to usage arms, ammunition and equipment for the Marine Corps;

the facility is to accomplish full operational capability by 2028.

"For more than a decade the United States has been building the possible to carry out intensive war activities against China, utilizing Australia as a starting point" – said "The Guardian" Richard Tanter, author of the Nautilus Institute database.

"From China's perspective, Australia does not have so many U.S. bases in its territory as it itself is an American base... Australia is an crucial part of the American war machine” – added Tanter, honorary prof. at the University of Melbourne.

Canberra holds that the increasing American presence strengthens Australia's security.

In June, defence minister Richard Marles stated that expanding the US presence is crucial both for building the country's military possible and for its national security.

Marles besides argued that the presence of the US helps to counter – as he said – "very crucial improvement of military capacity" China in this region.

A akin position was taken by Australia's erstwhile defence minister Christopher Pyne, stating that the AUKUS agreement concluded in 2021 (between Australia, the United States and Britain) goes beyond the question of Canberra's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

He described the agreement as an initiative "New U.S. submarine base in the Indian Ocean"which would supply Washington with a "great strategical advantage".

Tanner criticized Canberry's approach, calling it "The massive organization failure of Australia" and "of a kind of learned inability at political, parliamentary and bureaucratic level".

Translated by Google Translator

source:https://www.rt.com/news/645292-us-Australia-military-base/