US military rapidly building up Australia's northern bases amid South China Sea tensions

Record ID: 1830336

  • Title: US military rapidly building up Australia's northern bases amid South China Sea tensions
  • Date: 26th July 2024
  • Summary: TINDAL, AUSTRALIA (JULY 17, 2024) (REUTERS) AERIAL VIEW OF ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE TINDAL AIR BASE VARIOUS OF PILOTS FLYING AIRCRAFT AERIAL VIEW OF TINDAL AIR BASE WITH CONSTRUCTIONS WORKS VARIOUS OF EARTH MOVING EQUIPMENT AND HEAVY MACHINERY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE TINDAL WING COMMANDER FIONA PEARCE, SAYING: "Tindal has traditionally been a fast jet base and what that means is that we've had small runways, the amount of fuel that we need for fast jets to take off and land. What we are moving towards is a multi-purpose base so we are going to be big enough to take any aircraft in the world and to park and fly every different variant of aircraft. So there's runway increases, fuel increases and a whole bunch of other facilities that are being worked on as well." AERIAL VIEW OF TINDAL AIR BASE VARIOUS OF SIGNS AT TINDAL BASE MAIN ENTRANCE READING (English): "WELCOME TO RAAF BASE TINDAL" VEHICLES GOING INTO BASE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE TINDAL WING COMMANDER FIONA PEARCE, SAYING: "So we're not focusing on particular aircraft we are making sure we are able to facilitate all aircraft. Obviously the U.S. is a key partner in the infrastructure works that we've got going on and they're building facilities that will meet the needs of all of the ranges of aircraft that they provide." NEWLY BUILT AND CURRENT AIRCRAFT CONTROL TOWER AIRCRAFT CONTROLLER IN TOWER AIRCRAFT MOVING ON TARMAC AIRCRAFT CONTROLLER SPEAKING TO PILOT AIRCRAFT MAP ON SCREEN AIRCRAFT CONTROLLER SPEAKING TO PILOT AIRCRAFT MOVING ON TARMAC (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE TINDAL WING COMMANDER FIONA PEARCE, SAYING: "Tindal is geographically really important. We are in the north of Australia so we have a greater reach into our near region and we also have the ability to avoid cyclones by being that little bit further inland so that weather that can impact our capacity to respond to incidents is not something that we suffer from here in Tindal to the extent that they do in Darwin. So that does make this location vitally important." VEHICLE TRUCK MOVING IN CONSTRUCTION AREA HEAVY MACHINERY WORKING IN CONSTRUCTION AREA (SOUNDBITE) (English) LENDLEASE CIVIL SUPERINTENDENT, CLINT CARTWRIGHT, SAYING: "Working up here in the NT (Northern Territory) does definitely pose some problems getting plant people and equipment up here and to stay here. But generally we've had some very good subcontractors here and it's gone very well, so we've been very lucky." DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (JULY 20, 2024) (REUTERS) PLACARD READING (English): "DON'T DISAPPOINT SAVE LEE POINT" VARIOUS OF INDIGENOUS ELDER, TIBBY QUALL, LOOKING AT PLACARDS ON FENCE PLACARD READING (English): "AT THIS RATE WE'RE GOING, THERE'LL BE NOTHING LEFT!" PLACARD READING (English): "THE LARRAKIA WANT YOU TO SAVE LEE POINT" / "LAND BACK NOW!" (SOUNDBITE) (English) TRADITIONAL LAND OWNER, TIBBY QUALL, SAYING: "It doesn't make any sense to us that they develop the land because we've been fighting land rights since '75. We won land in Darwin, land that was suburban, a suburb of Darwin and the Defence, we won a land claim in the Defence area. You know, it's a practical argument now that we should be successful in this, having defended our land through those policies and laws and customs that's provided by the government. So you know, we should be able to maintain our land and that they being developers go South.' DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (JULY 21, 2024) (REUTERS) ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE MAIN ENTRANCE SIGN READING (English): "RAAF BASE DARWIN" RAAF BASE DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (JULY 16, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER UNITED STATES MARINE ROTATIONAL FORCE, COLONEL BRIAN MULVIHILL, SAYING: "So yes Darwin is absolutely what we call key terrain for us to bring, to help bring stability to the region. It gives us access to the southern portion of those islands that you mentioned earlier through a nation in which we have close sovereign ties with. Our governments are aligned, our militaries are aligned so it really is just a prime area for the Marine Corps to be able to come and train, train with Australian Defence Forces and gain access to the region." DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (JULY 20, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AIRCRAFT IN HANGARS AT RAAF DARWIN BASE DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (JULY 16, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER UNITED STATES MARINE ROTATIONAL FORCE, COLONEL BRIAN MULVIHILL, SAYING: "So in support of our, my rotational force and future rotations, the United States paid to have larger fuel storage put in place at RAAF Darwin in support of our aviation assets. As well as, that's done, and then the next project is to expand the parking apron for the MV-22 Ospreys to give them more space in and around the busy airport that is Darwin and RAAF Darwin." DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (JULY 18, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OSPREY AIRCRAFT TAKING PART IN MINDIL BEACH FLYOVER PEOPLE ON MINDIL BEACH LOOKING AT AIRCRAFT PERSON FILMING AIRCRAFT ON PHONE OSPREY IN FLIGHT DARWIN, AUSTRALIA (JULY 16, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER UNITED STATES MARINE ROTATIONAL FORCE, COLONEL BRIAN MULVIHILL, SAYING: "So we're more focused on, again, that interoperability with the Australian Defence Forces, how can we project power from Northern Australia into the region working with the Philippine Defence Forces, again Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Indonesia et cetera." TINDAL, AUSTRALIA (JULY 17, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HEAVY MACHINERY DRILLING CONSTRUCTION WORK
  • Embargoed: 9th August 2024 02:43
  • Keywords: ADF Australia Australian Defence Force China Defence Defense Marine Corp Marines Osprey RAAF Royal Australian Air Force South China Sea USA United States of America
  • Location: DARWIN, TINDAL, AUSTRALIA
  • City: DARWIN, TINDAL, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001161524072024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:The United States military is rapidly constructing in northern Australia to support its forces' ability to project power into the South China Sea in any crisis with China, a Reuters review of tender documents and interviews with U.S. and Australian defence officials shows.
    The projects, due for construction this year and next at RAAF Base Darwin and the inland RAAF Base Tindal, make northern Australia the top overseas location for U.S. air force and navy construction spending under 2024 and 2025 U.S. Congressional Defense Authorizations, totalling over $300 million.
    Closer to the Philippines than Australia's eastern capital Canberra, Darwin was the only Australian city bombed in World War Two, and has long been a garrison town for the Australian Defence Force and a U.S. Marine Rotational Force that arrives for six months of each year.
    It has re-emerged as a strategically vital Indo Pacific base in United States defence planning, officials told Reuters – even as the centre-left Labor government of Anthony Albanese maintains a policy of no U.S. bases on Australian soil.
    RAAF Base Tindal, 200 miles (322 km) south of Darwin was officially opened in 1988. Escaping tropical cyclones, its remoteness also holds security advantages as the home for Australia's F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, and the new long-range surveillance drone, Triton.
    Its location is "vitally important", said RAAF Base Tindal Wing Commander Fiona Pearce, with "greater reach into our near region".
    Large sections of RAAF Tindal's tarmac are being dug up as part of a U.S.-funded expansion to become "big enough to take any aircraft in the world", she said.
    Australia is spending A$1.5 billion on RAAF Tindal's redevelopment, and by July a new airport terminal, control tower, hangars and accommodation for surge personnel were near completion, Reuters found on a visit to the base. Separate U.S. and Australian bulk jet fuel stores sit side by side.
    But the remote location poses challenges in sourcing materials and a workforce, Lendlease Civil Superintendent Clint Cartwright told Reuters.
    A third of residents in the sparsely populated Northern Territory are Indigenous Australians, although they make up just 10% of Darwin's population.
    Growing demand for defence housing in Darwin has sparked a dispute with Traditional Owners including Tibby Quall, 75, over coastal forest land-clearing, and he says rising prices are pushing Indigenous families out of the city.
    A 2011 agreement with Australia for the Marine Corp to train in Darwin on a temporary basis has evolved into a regional deterrence role for some 2000 U.S. Marines who arrive each year, said Commanding Officer of the U.S. Marine Rotational Force, Colonel Brian Mulvihill. War games this month included Philippines and Timor Leste troops.
    "Darwin is absolutely key terrain for us to help bring stability to the region," he said in an interview at Darwin's Larrakeyah Barracks.
    "We are more focused on that interoperability with the Australian Defence Force – how can we project power from northern Australia into the region," he added.
    At RAAF Base Darwin, the U.S. will construct a dedicated tarmac area for the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey assault support aircraft - used to land troops from a ship.
    A U.S. Air Force squadron operations building was awarded for construction in April. The United States is seeking to disperse air power from its largest bases in the Pacific, such as Guam, to reduce vulnerability to a Chinese attack.
    The Australian government recently highlighted its own plans to spend A$14 billion "hardening" the northern bases under the country's biggest defence shakeup since World War Two, as tensions rise in the South China Sea, where two-thirds of Australia's trade transits.
    Canberra has drawn closer to its top security ally Washington under the AUKUS (Australia, Britain and the United States) pact to transfer U.S. nuclear submarine technology to Australia next decade. Yet it has been largely silent on the U.S. military construction underway in the north, thousands of miles from Australia's population centres.
    (Production: Stefica Nicol Bikes)
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