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The US now has access to more than half Australia’s military bases. Could it drag the country unwillingly into war?

From The Guardian · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Documents & data Context piece
  • US forces and defence corporations control or access more than 100 defence facilities across Australia, according to data compiled by the Nautilus Institute.
  • The mapped network includes 17 facilities controlled by the US on mainland Australia, access to 75 Australian-run installations and access for US defence corporations to another 18.
  • The facilities support intelligence gathering, satellite data access, communications interception, marine training and the pre-positioning of military assets.

The United States now controls or has access to more than 100 defence facilities across Australia, a scale of military reach that some analysts describe as the “colonisation” of Australia’s military.

New data compiled by the Nautilus Institute and published by Guardian Australia maps the extent of the US presence. It identifies 17 facilities controlled by the US on mainland Australia, while US forces have access to another 75 installations operated by Australia. US defence corporations have access to a further 18 facilities.

colonisation

· Unnamed analystsAnalysts used the term to describe the extent of US military control and access across Australia.

The network serves several military purposes. It supports intelligence gathering, access to satellite data used for targeting information and the interception of communications. It also provides training facilities, including for 2,500 US Marines on dry-season rotation in the Northern Territory.

The sites also allow the United States to pre-position warfighting assets such as Osprey aircraft and operate logistics hubs. Analysts quoted in the report describe the overall arrangement as a “saturation” or even a “colonisation” of the Australian continent’s military infrastructure, raising the question of whether Australia could be drawn unwillingly into a war.

saturation

· Unnamed analystsAnalysts used the term to characterize the concentration of US military interests across Australian facilities.
About this summary

Originally published by The Guardian in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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