Posted on 04/11/2009 7:38:36 PM PDT by Dundee
DEFENCE strategists have ignored the advice of Australia's most senior intelligence chiefs and rejected the view that China's military expansion poses little threat to the nation's long-term security.
...standoff between intelligence doves and defence hawks has gone all the way to Kevin Rudd...
...the hawks have won, and Australia will spend more than $100 billion over the next two decades to boost its naval and air war-fighting capacity...
...expansion of Australia's sea and air defences will include doubling of the submarine fleet, 100 joint strike fighters, new spy planes, and powerful new surface warships...
...classified intelligence assessments... by ONA and DIO played down the risk of a major conventional war involving China and the US over the next two decades.
...least likely, but most dangerous, long-term threat to Australia's security... war between the US and China.
"Even if China stays on its present trajectory... in 2030 there will still be only one country with a capability of mounting an expeditionary force to threaten Australia and that's the US," observed one Canberra insider.
"We are not saying China isn't going to challenge the US in the western Pacific. We are not saying that China is a benign power. We agree their role will change in military terms, but a more powerful China doesn't necessarily make it the No1 threat that you build your force structure around."...
Senior Defence officials argued privately that the ADF needed to be structured to enable it to play a key support role alongside US forces in any future conflict with Beijing. "They saw the rise of China as the new Cold War and decided that this needed to be the focus of future strategy," said one Defence insider.
...army, navy and air force chiefs also strongly argued the need to plan primarily for state-based conventional warfare...
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
Certainly the fear of America invading Australia is the big threat for which they need to prepare.
Australia used to rely on England for protection. Since the end of the Second World War, they have increasingly relied on the U.S.
If the economic crisis forces cutbacks, and if Obama has his way, Australia could end up on its own. And if that happens, they need to plan for it well ahead of time.
At this rate, we’ll be depending on Australia for our defense. Thanks, Barack. My family are all Aussies. I think we’ll move back.
Its Japan that needs to get busy..
Actually I’d trade a few of those extra subs for a fourth air warfare destroyer and upgrading the LHDs to carry F-35Bs
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