US to Fly F-22 Raptors In and Out of Australia Amid South China Sea Tensions (excerpt)
The United States will follow up the deployment of a permanent Marine force in Australia’s Northern Territory with regular deployments of F-22 Raptor stealth fighters, the most capable combat aircraft in its inventory. (USAF photo)
During a visit to Sydney on Wednesday, the commander of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, vowed the US would remain a major player in the region, saying its "enduring interests" would not "change on January 20th" - referring to the day of Donald Trump's inauguration as President.
Admiral Harris revealed that he had signed a 2017 agreement for Australia to host US military assets including the Raptors, which are feared and revered as the best fighter planes in the world, and will send a strong signal about US military presence in the region.
"I think that's positive," Admiral Harris told the Lowy Institute event.
The greater presence of US air power out of Australia follows on from the rotation of US marines as a way to bolster the alliance and the American footprint at the southern edge of Asia - akin to a stationary aircraft carrier.
Strategic analysts widely see northern Australia as vital territory because it is mostly out of range of China's ballistic missiles and is at the fulcrum of the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Euan Graham, the Lowy Institute's director of international security, described the presence of the F-22s as "pretty high-end coercive signalling to China".
While the rotation of marines in Darwin got more attention, the stationing of planes was much more strategically significant, he said. (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on the SMH website.
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