Australia’s centre-left Labor government ordered a review of defense strategy and military spending shortly after taking office in May 2022, in part over concerns about long delays in procuring new vehicles and weapons, Bloomberg reported. The report notes that Australia faces a “drastically different” strategic environment, including a military build-up from China, which is “the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of World War II”. . At the same time, the close American ally is no longer a “unipolar leader of the Indo-Pacific region”.
Commenting on the experts’ findings, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters after the publication that Canberra was reviewing the concept of its armed forces for the first time in 35 years. According to him, the new doctrine will include five elements: to protect Australia and its immediate regions, to deter any adversary who seeks to project force against Australia or its interests, to protect Australia’s economic links with the region and the world . In addition, the Minister said, together with its partners, Australia is committed to the collective security of the Indo-Pacific region, as well as to ensuring the maintenance of a global order based on international norms and rules. . “Now most of those targets for the Australian Defense Force’s new mission are well off our coasts,” Marles said.
Marles said the cost of the changes is estimated at A$19 billion ($12.7 billion), with most of the funds already included in defense spending. As a result of the changes, the Australian Army’s initial maximum missile range will be 300 kilometers and, with the acquisition of precision-guided strike missiles, over 500 kilometres, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said. Defense Industry, Pat Conroy.
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