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John Power

Australian and US military forces should integrate further under a “collective deterrence strategy” aimed at China’s rise, giving Canberra access to American operations in the Philippines, Singapore and Guam, a new report argues.
The allies should look at new “combined access arrangements” among a number of ways to strengthen “integrated deterrence” against Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region, according to the report released by the Sydney-based United States Studies Centre on Friday.
“Greater Australian access to US operating locations in Guam, the Philippines and Singapore could significantly augment the Australian Defence Force’s strategic footprint,” says the report authored by Australia’s former consul general in Honolulu, Jane Hardy.
Washington operates a number of major military installations on Guam, a US territory, and has access to facilities in Singapore and the Philippines under a pair of security pacts.
Washington should also involve Canberra in the early stages of military planning, including contingency scenarios involving “grey-zone tactics or the limited use of force by China”, according to the report.

“Integrated Deterrence in the Indo-Pacific: Advancing the Australia-United States Alliance” also suggests offering greater support to countries upset by Beijing’s claims in waters such as the South China Sea by moving to “more explicitly plan for and coordinate the transit of warships for a general deterrence effect”.
Beijing has embarked on a major military build-up in the South China Sea, where its expansive claims have irked Southeast Asian nations and Taiwan.
“The US Coast Guard and Australian Border Force should be brought to a joint planning table to identify ideal modes for combined maritime presence operations,” the report says.
Pacific Island nations uneasy over Aukus deal
While acknowledging that many countries in the region would be reluctant to choose a side between the US and China, the report stresses that “fostering military interoperability among the largest possible grouping of like-minded nations remains essential to the success of integrated deterrence”.
Washington and Canberra have ramped up security cooperation in the face of shared concerns over Beijing’s growing regional influence. Along with Britain, the allies last month announced the formation of AUKUS, a trilateral security alliance whose first major initiative aims to provide Australia with 12 nuclear-powered submarines in the coming decades.


China slammed the grouping as “extremely irresponsible” and a threat to regional stability at its launch, and this week described the alliance as a “product of a cold war mentality and narrow geopolitical concepts”.
The launch of the group has generated a mixed response among the region more broadly. Japan and the Philippines have welcomed AUKUS, while Indonesia and Malaysia have raised concerns about the prospect of a regional arms race. India has not publicly indicated any position except to stress that the grouping is unrelated to the “Quad” security dialogue involving the US, Australia and Japan.
Politicians and media in Pacific Island nations, some of which have painful memories of nuclear testing by the US, Britain and France, have also raised concerns.
Last month, the president of Kiribati, a grouping of 33 islands scattered across one of the world’s largest exclusive economic zones, told Australian media he felt disrespected about not being consulted about the submarine plan and had lodged a complaint with Canberra.
James Goldrick, a former two-star rear admiral in the Royal Australian Navy, said plans to boost regional security cooperation needed to “give due weight and attention to the concerns of regional states, particularly those in Southeast Asia”.


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Aukus alliance

US should give Australia access to operations in Singapore, Guam, Philippines: report

The Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Oklahoma City returns to the US Naval Base in Guam. Photo: AP

(FILES) This file US Navy photo shows the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)as it is moored pier side at Naval Base Guam on May 15, 2020. - A US aircraft carrier group sailed into the South China Sea on a so-called "freedom of navigation" exercise, the first routine operation in the region under new President Joe Biden. Led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the carrier strike group entered the area on January 23, 2021, the US Indo-Pacific Command said, the same day Taiwan reported multiple Chinese jets and bombers had flown into its air defense zone. (Photo by Conner D. BLAKE / US NAVY / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /US NAVY/CONNER D. BLAKE/HANDOUT " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Aukus fallout: for years, US told India it couldn’t share nuclear submarine technology. ‘And now this ...’

The Indian Navy's indigenously built, diesel-electric, Scorpene attack submarine at Mazagon Dock in Mumbai. Photo: Xinhua

(FILES) This file picture taken on September 21, 2004, in Brest harbor, western France, shows the Vepr Russian nuclear submarine of the Project 971 Shchuka-B type, or Akula-class (Shark) by NATO classification, the same type as the Nerpa Russian nuclear submarine. India is to return to the elite group of countries with a nuclear-powered submarine on April 4, 2012 when it inducts a new vessel leased from Russia. India signed up for the Russian submarine, formally known as Nerpa, in 2004 and it was originally due to be handed over in 2009. AFP PHOTO/FRED TANNEAU/FILES

epaselect epa05351830 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (bottom) in front of US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and House Speaker Republican Paul Ryan (R), addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, 08 June 2016. The event is the last of his three-day visit to Washington, which included a meeting with President Obama at the White House. Later in the day Modi will fly to Mexico for dinner with Mexican President Pena Nieto. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

Aukus gets the Philippines’ backing – despite warnings from Indonesia, Malaysia about defence partnership

A US nuclear-powered submarine of the type that Australia may soon deploy under the Aukus alliance. Photo: US Navy/TNS

epa09475887 Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a press conference at Kirribilli House in Sydney, Australia, 19 September 2021. Morrison made remarks following France's decision to recall its ambassadors in Australia and the United States after Canberra walked out of a submarine deal with Paris to acquire nuclear propelled ones from Washington. EPA-EFE/JOEL CARRETT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Teodoro Locsin, the Philippines‘ foreign minister, pictured with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

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A new report by Australia’s former consul general in Honolulu calls for greater integration with US forces under a ‘collective deterrence strategy’ aimed at China’s rise
The suggestion follows the formation of the AUKUS alliance, which includes the two countries and Britain, and will see Australia gain access to nuclear submarine technology



A new report by Australia’s former consul general in Honolulu calls for greater integration with US forces under a ‘collective deterrence strategy’ aimed at China’s rise.
