The importance of American military might to Australia and the Asia-Pacific

In the end, Australia is making decisions it believes are necessary to uphold its national interest with the help of its closest allies the US and UK, albeit cooperation with other nations is also important and worth striving for given a shared concern about the rise of the CCP with its increasingly assertive behaviour.

In addition to the US sharing nuclear technology to fuel future submarines, the recent AUKUS trilateral security agreement includes:

“Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, to be fielded on Hobart class destroyers, enabling Australia’s maritime assets to strike land targets at greater distances, with better precision.

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (Extended Range), to enable Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 Hornets and in future, the F-35A Lightning II, to hit targets at a range of 900km.

Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (Extended Range) (LRASM) for the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Continuing collaboration with the United States to develop hypersonic missiles for air capabilities.

Precision strike guided missiles for Australia’s land forces, capable of destroying, neutralising and supressing diverse targets from over 400km.

Accelerating $1 billion for a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing enterprise, to enable creation of Australian weapons in country”.

As also noted by Albert Palazzo, director of war studies at the Australian Army Research Centre, given that long-range precision missiles and sensors have swung the balance between the offensive and the defensive in favour of the defender, Australia must also be capable of launching defensive strikes over a vast area covering its northern approaches.

In the end, with China’s growing economic and military influence, it is the US that remains paramount to ensuring stability in the Asia Pacific.  

As long as the CCP menace persists and spreads its tentacles, the resistance to such a powerful authoritarian nation will increase in one form or another, and the US effort will be crucial to any national or collective effort now or in the future as the most powerful liberal democracy in the world.