US, Australia rehearse long-range firepower, with eye on china
The United States and Australia rehearsed precision missile strikes during war games on Saturday, the latest in a series of moves by the partners amid growing tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
The live-fire drills were held at the Shoalwater Bay military complex in the northeastern region of Queensland as a part of the two-week-long Talisman Sabre joint military exercises.
It comes as Canberra overhauls its military strategy, focusing on long-range firepower in a bid to keep the potential adversaries at arm’s length.
According to Australian Army Major Tony Purdy the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which was recently sold to the Australian Defense Force, was also tested in the drill.
Purdy said the missile system would “provide a significant capability boost” and much-needed “long-range precision.”
Major Jimmy Sheehan, Talisman Sabre spokesperson for the US forces, said these initiatives and ‘firsts’ ultimately create an exercise that will enhance Australia and the US’s ability to “respond to global security challenges in the region.”
The US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said at the start of the exercises on Friday that “The most important message that China can take from this exercise and anything that our allies and partners do together is that we are extremely tied by the core values that exist amongst our many nations.”
Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Greg Bilton, Australia’s chief of joint operations, claimed that a Chinese spy ship had been sighted off the northeastern coast of Australia while preparations for the military exercises were underway.
The joint military exercises involve military partners and observers from thirteen countries in the Indo-Pacific region Japan, France, Germany, and South Korea, and more than 30,000 troops.
On Saturday, the US commissioned the Independence-class littoral combat ship (LCS) – named USS Canberra –at a ceremony at an Australian naval base on Sydney Harbor, officially joining the US Navy’s active fleet.
This is the first time a US Navy vessel joined active service at a foreign port, as the two close allies step up their military ties in response to China’s expanding regional reach.
China has repeatedly warned against the establishment of an “Asia-Pacific version of NATO” and made clear its opposition to any foreign military involvement in the region.
Earlier this month it categorically opposed NATO’s eastward movement into the Asia-Pacific region, warning it will give a resolute response to any threat to its legitimate rights.
The warning came in response to a communiqué made at a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on July 12, alleging that China’s “malicious hybrid and cyber operations and its confrontational rhetoric and disinformation target Allies and harm Alliance security.”
China said the NATO communiqué distorts China's position and policies, adding that the Western military alliance’s activities “will inevitably undermine regional peace and stability and stoke camp competition.”
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