American submarines will visit Australia more regularly but Defence Minister Richard Marles has rejected basing them down under to bolster our defences until our nuclear-powered boats hit the water.

Mr Marles is planning to use this week’s first meeting of AUKUS defence ministers to lock in the key planks of Australia’s nuclear submarine plan before it is unveiled early next year.

But he said home-porting US submarines in Australia was “not the answer” to covering any capability gap that emerged before our boats were in service.

This week’s AUSMIN meeting between Australian and US defence and foreign affairs ministers is also likely to lock in an expanded US Marine rotation in Darwin, and potentially the deployment of more US aircraft including nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

Visiting senior US military officers believe Australia is a "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow", as they eye off this continent's "prime" geography for future space operations.

General Shaw has warned a conflict in space in the next few years is a very real prospect, saying potential adversaries have already shown they can successfully shoot down satellites.

Australia's own Defence Space Command was only formally stood up in March, but General Armagno says this country already has the natural advantage of its southern-hemisphere geography and potential launch sites close to the equator.

The government will not say exactly what it has considered or proposed to Defence, but says it is reviewing the Northern Territory's "suitability and readiness" as plans for the nuclear-powered submarine fleet progress.

Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison was asked whether the deployment would put the Northern Territory at greater risk from potential adversaries.

She said the territory had "a very long and proud defence history" and listed the upgrades and new construction of new facilities currently underway in the Top End.

"I think territorians are very comfortable with that, they understand our strategic location and generally are very supportive of that defence investment," she said.

To help maximise defence investment in the Top End, Labor created the Canberra-based position of Defence and National Security Advocate to lobby government and industry on the Northern Territory's behalf.

The current advocate, defence analyst Alan Dupont, has previously argued for a Nothern Territory role in the transition to nuclear boats, which may not be ready before Australia's current conventional fleet needs replacing.

a Defence spokesperson said "the development of maritime services and support in Darwin harbour" was covered in "regular, productive discussions with the Northern Territory government on a range of initiatives".

The USA Air Force is planning to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Tindal air base near Darwin, as fears grow that China is preparing for an assault on Taiwan. 

"It's a great expansion of Australian commitment to the United States' war plan with China," says Richard Tanter, a senior research associate at the Nautilus Institute and a long-time, anti-nuclear activist.

"It's very hard to think of a more open commitment that we could make. A more open signal to the Chinese that we are going along with American planning for a war with China," Mr Tanter says.

Pine Gap is also undergoing a major upgrade

The Yanks have bade farewell to the Northern Territory with the end of the 2022 Marine Rotational Force – Darwin.

The Territory hosted 2200 US military personnel in the MRF-D’s 11th rotation, which began in March, for the relationship strengthening exercise.

There were a multitude of activities undertaken this year, including Exercise Koolendong, a bilateral warfighting exercise held in the NT and Western Australia.

MRF-D Commanding Officer and regimental commander for the historic 5th Marine Regiment Colonel Chris Steele said the US and Australia were “committed to ensuring a secure, stable, and inclusive Indo-Pacific”.

MRF-D 2023 is expected to begin next March.