For the first time in nearly eight decades, Australia will beef up its own military might and brace for the prospect of war on its own turf as the government shells out extra cash for its weapons shopping list.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has disclosed that Australia would procure long-range rockets capable of reaching a target 370 kilometers away as part of a program to allocate $270 billion on military equipment over the next 10 years.
A top military analyst warns about an Asia-Pacific conflict that is likely to erupt in the next decade, as China has increasingly ramped up its own defense spending.
Morrison identified several key areas of anxiety including the boundary between China and India, and issues over the South China Sea and East China Sea. The move follows strained ties between China and Australia, which have been largely viewed to be at their worst in many years.
Australia's latest defence initiative spending, around 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, revises a previous years-long course of action, carried out only in 2016, and which had allotted A$195 billion for the program.
The prime minister stated a good portion of the budget would go to boosting the Australian Defence Force's weapons, including cyber capabilities, area denial combat infrastructure, and other military hardware.
Morrison said while they deal with the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic at home, "we need to also prepare for a post-COVID world that's more dangerous and disorderly," SBS News quoted him as saying.
Australia will pledge to set aside billions for its military upgrade and purchase of new weapons -- as United States President Donald Trump has demanded of allies -- and spend nearly 40 percent more compared to the government's last defence evaluation in 2016.
Australia will purchase more lethal strike capabilities, including the US-built AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, including allotting extra budget in advanced hypersonic weapons research and development.
Morrison said the growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region means Australia must be able to hold potential enemies' forces back from a farther distance.
Rory Medcalf, chief of the National University's National Security College, stated that the new program proves Australia is serious when it comes to deterrence and the possibility of an armed showdown in the Indo-Pacific region.
Since the release of Australia's 2016 Defence White Paper, Morrison said the world has seen an acceleration of the critical trends that were already underway. The Australian government is looking to the US to supply and support its new military program and further its existing reliance on Washington.
