US Marines will be ‘all hands on deck in regional crisis’

The Australian ^ | 11th February 2015 | Brendan Nicholson

[naturalman1975]

US Marines training in Darwin could carry out joint military ­operations with the Australian Defence Force in any sudden ­regional crisis.

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Admiral Greenert is visiting Australia for talks with his Australian counterpart Tim Barrett about close co-operation between US and Australian submarines on ­operations.

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He was in Darwin on Monday to see if the port could accommodate the 40,0000-tonne helicopter carriers used by the US Marine Rotational Force.

Admiral Greenert said the US intended to send about 2000 marines with aircraft, some light armoured vehicles and the ability to “do what we call joint forcible entry from the sea” to the Northern Territory by about 2020.

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Asked if the US might launch military operations as well as ­humanitarian missions from Darwin, Admiral Greenert said it was feasible. “Once they’re on the ship, they bring the team together and they get underway; if all of a sudden you have a hot spot, and our two nations agree that’s something we are going to respond to with military operations then, yes, I could foresee that,” he said.

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Australia’s Collins-class submarine was probably the world’s fastest conventional submarine and had the same sensors, torpedoes and fire control systems as the US nuclear subs, he said

“When they are manned, out and operating, they are very proficient at what they do,” he said.

“So an Australian conventional submarine, by virtue of its technical advancement and its proficient sailors, is as good as a nuclear submarine. Australia has a legacy of undersea operations and a strong undersea force, so from that point of view it would be unfortunate to lose a partner with that kind of capability.”

He said many regional nations were building up their submarine forces.

[naturalman1975]

The article is, unfortunately, behind a paywall, but I've excerpted as much as I can of it, to give the most critical information.

[stephenjohnbanker]

BUMP

[AngelesCrestHighway]