Hardest conditions since 1945: Australia turns its army inside out

Australia wants to quickly reorganize its army given the changed security situation in the region and other threats.

Weapons with a range of more than 500 kilometers, the purchase of nuclear-powered submarines and the production of munitions in the country should now be among the country’s top priorities, according to a report released Monday by the Defense Ministry. The full cost of this realignment cannot be calculated until it is clear which recommendations of the report will be implemented, it said.

Australia had already entered into a security alliance with the US and Britain in September 2021 called Aukus – after the English abbreviations of the three countries. In March, the three partners announced they would equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, bolstering military deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region. Observers see the alliance and its project primarily as an attempt to counter China’s rising power drive in the Indo-Pacific – even as the three countries assure that their alliance is by no means directed against any specific country.

“We support the strategic direction and key findings of the review,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement accompanying Monday’s report. Albanese himself had commissioned the report. Australia must move on as the region faces its toughest conditions since World War II, he told the Australian news agency AAP. The report cited regional power shifts, climate change and cyber-attacks as potential threats to the fifth continent. (oee/sda/dpa)