U.S. Considering Basing Warships in Australia
Source: Wall Street Journal
U.S. Considering Basing Warships in Australia
U.S. Chief of Navy Operations Says Australia, U.S. Looking to Increase Maritime Cooperation
By
Rob Taylor
Updated Feb. 10, 2015 1:44 a.m. ET
CANBERRA, Australia—The U.S. Navy is considering a plan to base warships in Australia and would like to broaden yearly maritime exercises with India to permanently include close regional allies Japan and Australia, in an expansion of security ties that could risk exacerbating strategic rivalries with China.
Visiting Australia to inspect port facilities the U.S. would like to use to support a regular Marine training presence in the northern city of Darwin, U.S. Chief of Navy Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, said military officials from both countries were looking to increase maritime cooperation.
“We’re doing a study…to see what might be feasible for naval cooperation in and around Australia, which might include basing ships,” Adm. Greenert, who is one of the U.S. Navy’s most senior commanders and a military adviser to President Barack Obama , said in a lecture on security at the Australian National University in Canberra.
“Right now it’s at the stage of ’what’s the art of the possible’, what kind of infrastructure exists, what might it take to do that, what kind of support measures, and how would that fit into the two nations’ strategic desires into the future,” he said in response to a question from The Wall Street Journal. “It’s in the early stages. But we are considering it.”
Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-considering-basing-warships-in-australia-1423550597
