Australia Sees Military Allies Ready To Work Together If Needed

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- Australia's military is ready to deploy with its allies if needed in Asia or beyond, its defense forces chief said Friday at the conclusion of military drills in the South China Sea with the US, Philippines and others.

“If our governments were to make a decision, if in this region or elsewhere, that we have to work together, we have the confidence that we have got the ability,” Admiral David Johnston, the head of Australia's military, said in an interview in Manila.“We've tested it, we've trained, we've practiced it.”

Johnston was in the Philippines for the end of the Balikatan military exercises, in which about 400 Australians participated alongside more than 15,000 personnel from the Philippines, the US, Canada, Japan, France, and New Zealand. Before flying to Manila he met in Canberra with the head of US forces in the Pacific, Samuel Paparo. Johnston was appointed to his current role in 2024 and will step down in July.

Australia aims to conduct more military activities, including trainings with countries like Japan and Indonesia, in line with the goal of a stable Indo-Pacific and Southwest Pacific, Johnston said.

“We do everything we can to deter conflict from beginning,” he said.

The exercises featured the first Japanese combat troops in the Philippines since World War II, with soldiers from the Ground Self Defence launching anti-ship missile to help sink a retired warship, while the US also fired a missile from a system it moved to the island-nation a few years ago.

Nations across the region are looking to boost defense spending, with Australia planning to spend billions of dollars more, including on new Japanese-built warships to beef up its navy. Japan is also looking to transfer older ships to the Philippines military, as both countries are increasingly concerned about China's growing military power and reach.

Johnston declined to identify any specific risks he saw in the region, and highlighted that Balikatan, which means“shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog, focuses on disaster relief and medical training as well as combat operations.

Since taking office in 2022, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has strengthened ties with Washington and other allies to counter Beijing's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, which were invalidated by a 2016 international arbitration ruling.

The strategic waterway is believed to hold vast oil and gas reserves, and trillions of dollars in global trade passes through it each year.

“This is a deterrence exercise as much as it is a training exercise,” Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in a speech during Balikatan's closing ceremonies.

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