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United States to deploy B-1B bombers and Global Hawk UAVs in Australia 1405151.
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World
Aviation Defense & Security News - United States |
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| United States to deploy B-1B bombers and Global Hawk UAVs in Australia | |||
The
US plans to station B-1B
Lancer bombers and surveillance aircraft in Australia amid
rising tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea. In addition to moving
Marine and Army units around the region, Washington will be “placing
additional Air Force assets in Australia as well, including B-1 bombers
and surveillance aircraft,” the US Defense Department's Assistant
Secretary for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, David Shear, said on
Wednesday, as quoted by Foreign Policy. |
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During
testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday,
US Defence Department Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Security
Affairs David Shear announced that in addition to the movement of US Marine
and Army units around the Western Pacific region, "we will be
placing additional Air Force assets in Australia as well, including B-1
bombers and surveillance aircraft."
The US plan comes as the Obama administration moves to boost US naval forces and air power in the South China Sea to assert the right of free passage and challenge China's efforts to buttress its maritime territorial claims through the construction of airfields and artificial islands. The B-1 Lancer bomber, commonly called "Bone" (originally from "B-One") was first deployed by the US Air Force in the mid 1980s and is expected to continue as a strategic bomber until the mid 2030s. US B-52 bombers have previously been temporarily deployed to Darwin, to take part in exercises with the Royal Australian Air Force, in 2012 and in late 2014, as a consequence of a joint Force Posture Initiative agreed by former prime minister Julia Gillard and US President Barack Obama in 2011. About 1150 US Marines began arriving in Darwin this week for six months training during the Top End's dry season. The marines are the fourth rotation of US troops deployed to the Northern Territory since 2011. The plan is to gradually increase the number of US Marines rotating through Darwin to 2500 troops by 2017. Disclosed ahead of any statement by the Australian government,
the US plan to deploy B-1 bombers and high-altitude remotely piloted
Global Hawk surveillance aircraft to Australia comes as part of the
US military's broader "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific region. "We claim the right of innocent passage in such areas, and we exercise that right regularly, both in the South China Sea and globally," Mr Shear told the Senate Foreign Relations committee. Similar views were expressed by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel, who also told the Senate committee "No matter how much sand you pile on a reef in the South China Sea, you can't manufacture sovereignty." The Chinese Foreign Ministry has voiced "serious concern" about the US officials's remarks. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a press conference on Wednesday that China supported freedom of navigation in the South China Sea but "freedom of navigation does not give one country's military aircraft and ships free access to another country's territorial waters and airspace." She said China would "resolutely safeguard its territorial sovereignty" and urged the US "not to take any risks or make any provocations." The Australian Defence Department has not yet commented on the US announcement. |
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