Long-range missiles in Australia's future
The Australian government announced plans Friday for a major military buildup focusing on long-distance cruise missiles.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the country cannot count on the United States for its protection in the future, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday.
A government document -- Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030 -- considers the possibility of a regional war.
Australia has been a very secure country for many decades, in large measure because the wider Asia-Pacific region has enjoyed an unprecedented era of peace and stability underwritten by U.S. strategic primacy,
the document said. That order is being transformed as economic changes start to bring about changes in the distribution of strategic power. Risks resulting from escalating strategic competition could emerge quite unpredictably.
Under the plan, Australia would build up an arsenal of missiles capable of striking at a distance of hundreds of miles. The Navy would be the big gainer with additional submarines, destroyers and frigates.
UPI
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