Amid China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian authorities on Thursday announced a “major restructuring” of the country’s armed forces with a new long-range strike capability.
The reform follows a strategic review in July that called on Canberra to introduce a wide-ranging deterrent based on missiles, submarines and cyber assets to keep adversaries at bay.
“This is an important milestone for our Army. This will create an army with projection capacity,” Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters in Townsville in the north-east of the country.
“This is the foundation on which we will build the military we need for Australia’s future,” he said.
The overhaul will create specialized combat brigades at three bases: a light, rapid-deployment force in Darwin (north), a heavier armored force in Townsville (northeast), and a mix of the two in Brisbane (east). .
Hundreds of military personnel will be relocated over the next five to six years, Marles said, calling it a “major restructuring.”
This reform also creates a new brigade in Adelaide (South) with long-range fire capabilities and integrated air and missile defense.
Australia’s strategic report released in July described China’s buildup of military capabilities as the most ambitious since World War II and stressed that “the risks of military escalation or blunder were increasing.”
However, Richard Marles did not specifically mention China in his announcement on Thursday.
The Australian Army will use it to expand its air, land and sea attack capabilities, strengthen its bases in the north of the country and recruit more troops.
Canberra had already unveiled a key element of its new strategy in 2021, the development of long-range stealth nuclear submarines capable of carrying cruise missiles as part of the Aukus alliance between Canberra, London and Washington.
In August, Australia agreed to purchase more than 200 American long-range Tomahawk missiles for $830 million.