The United States is constructing military infrastructure in northern Australia. While American and Australian officials have stated that these bases still belong to the Australian Defence Force, in the event of a crisis, the Pentagon will be able to project greater power into the South China Sea from these locations, enhancing deterrence against the Chinese Communist Party.
The city of Darwin in northern Australia, closer to the Philippines than the capital Canberra, has long been a base for the Australian Defence Force and the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. Marines are stationed in Darwin for six months each year.
Several hundred kilometers to the south, the Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal is crucial for Australia’s air capabilities and serves as a temporary base for U.S. military aircraft during exercises.
With tensions escalating with Beijing, northern Australia has become a strategic focal point in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States has begun constructing facilities worth hundreds of millions of dollars to support B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters, tankers, and transport aircraft. This is part of the U.S. plan to disperse forces and reduce vulnerabilities in military bases.
Colonel Brian Mulvihill, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps rotation task force, said, “When you look at the position of northern Australia, especially Darwin… having multiple options of where to send forces during any type of crisis is always a good thing.”
According to Reuters’ review of tender documents, intelligence briefing rooms, runways for bomber use, warehouses, data centers, and maintenance hangars are under construction.
Officials also disclosed to Reuters that large-scale fuel storage facilities have already been completed.
These projects are set to commence construction in 2024 and 2025, making northern Australia the location of the highest overseas construction expenditure for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.
Additionally, more construction projects are on the horizon. In June of this year, the U.S. Navy was seeking contractors for a project valued at up to $2 billion to build docks, runways, fuel depots, and hangars in locations such as the Cocos Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.
Air Commodore Ron Tilley, responsible for infrastructure in the Royal Australian Air Force, confirmed that Washington is investing in building facilities in Darwin and Tindal to support American operations.
Under the AUKUS agreement, the U.S. will transfer nuclear submarine technology to Australia, significantly deepening the security relationship between the two nations. The Australian government recently emphasized a $14 billion commitment to “harden” northern bases as part of its largest defense construction plan since World War II.
U.S. and Australian defense officials stress that the new facilities should not be considered American military bases.
For Australia, foreign bases are a sensitive political issue. Successive Australian governments have maintained that there are no American bases on Australian soil.
Tilley stated, “All bases will continue to be Australian bases, but our international partners can also utilize these bases.”
Currently, approximately 2,000 U.S. Marines are stationed in northern Australia on regular rotations, providing significant deterrence. Colonel Mulvihill of the Marine Corps remarked, “Darwin is absolutely a key staging area for us to help stabilize the region.”
“We are more focused on interoperability with the Australian Defence Force, which determines how we project power from northern Australia into the region,” he added.
Over the years, the U.S. Air Force has concentrated fighter jets at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, and bombers at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, making these two bases increasingly targets of Chinese aggression.
To address this, the U.S. aims to decentralize forces from Guam and Okinawa, establishing a network of dozens of small bases across the Pacific to reduce vulnerabilities. For Australia, the northern bases provide a gateway into the South China Sea.
(This article references relevant reports from Reuters)