A former Australian assistant defense secretary says there might be more Marines in Australia in the wake of a new trilateral defense alliance.

AUKUS, which officials had been talking about for the past 18 months, is about much more than submarines, Babbage said.

“We are going to see larger U.S. forces coming, including U.S. Army forces and air power coming here on rotation,” he said. “It’s quite likely the Marine Corps presence could be scaled up.”

The U.S. Embassy in Canberra and the Australian Defence Department did not respond Friday to questions about the possible effect of the trilateral defense pact on the Marine rotations.