A deserted beach south-west of Darwin is under attack in an exercise involving United States Marines and Japanese and Australian soldiers.

Fog Bay, about 70 kilometres south-west of Darwin, is where the Talisman Sabre 2015 exercise is underway.

The exercise is described by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as a "biennial combined Australian and United States training activity, designed to train our respective military forces in planning and conducting Combined Task Force operations to improve the combat readiness and interoperability between our respective forces".

interoperability - you keep using that word.

In recent months, China has been challenging the Unites States’ security agenda with its territorial claims in the South China Sea. And now that Australia has basically teamed up with the US and its allies against China, it becomes more interesting

the North West Cape base in Western Australia is a key US “anti-satellite” facility, tracking Chinese as well as Russian satellites for destruction by unspecified weapons.

Therefore, deals signed between the US and Australia have paved the way to station US Marines in the northern Australian city of Darwin and thus provide broader access for US aircraft and warships to Australian military bases and ports.

That kind of ‘cooperation’ allows the US to take Australia to the war against China even without having a vote in the Australian parliament. Australia would immediately become a participating side of the conflict, with or without the wish to become one.

Australia should have learned from its involvement in Iraq that its interests are not served by following the USA into conflict

Last week US assistant defence secretary David Shear announced to a Congressional hearing that the United States would soon be basing B-1 Lancer bombers and surveillance aircraft in Australia as a deterrent to China’s “destabilising effect” in the South China Sea.

This move is, in fact, part of the USA’s pre-existing “pivot to Asia” strategy, which aims to gradually emplace a blockade on China, so the USA can strangle China economically by closing off its trade routes, affecting its ability to import oil from the Middle East or elsewhere by sea.

Australia is being upgraded as a US operated base for this purpose.

Australia has a “force posture agreement” with the USA that allows “enhanced aircraft cooperation initiatives.” It has already had heavy bombers (B-52s) deployed in Australia, though the justification at this stage is that these have only been “visits” for exercises and training.

For the US Defence forces it is apparently OK to inform their own Congress about their plans for further deployment of military forces before informing the government of one of their most obviously obsequious colonies of their intentions.

However, the Chinese government almost immediately issued a statement expressing “serious concern”, declaring it would “resolutely uphold its territorial sovereignty” and warning the United States to “talk and act cautiously and not take any actions that are risky or provocative”.

Following the Chinese reaction, the Australian Prime Minister Abbott and his Defence Minister Andrews were soon claiming that the US government had contacted them to advise that the official had “misspoke” and as far as the PM understood, “the US does not have any plans to base those aircraft in Australia.”

Abbott’s statement betrays the real relationship between Australia and the United States – Abbott “understands” the Americans have no “plans” at present for basing aircraft in Australia, but there is no independent Australian view on the matter.

Contrast this with the government view on refugees and immigration...

ALMOST 19,000 troops will be playing war games in the Territory and off the coast of Northern Australia in July as part of the Australian and US military exercise, Talisman Sabre.

The biennial event is the Australian Defence Force’s biggest combined military exercise.

Australian Army Brigadier Robert Brown said the Northern Territory part of Talisman Sabre had grown this year and would involve about 18,800 Navy, Army and Air Force personnel from Australia and the US.

“This year a larger portion of the exercise will be staged in the Top End,” he said.

“For 2015, the focus of the exercise, particularly air and maritime operations, will be in the North Australian Range Complex, Timor and Arafura seas however, a number of land activities will continue to be carried out at training areas in the East Australian Range Complex in Queensland.


“We continue to work with traditional owners to fine tune a staged beach landing at Fog Bay which will occur before the exercise moves into the vast Bradshaw Field Training Area on the Northern Territory and Western Australian border.”

A public open day will be held at the Darwin Showgrounds on July 5 and there will be heightened military activity in the Darwin region.

This year will be the sixth time the exercise has been conducted and will involve about 30,000 Australian and US participants with planning and military operations at sea, in the air, and on land.

The exercise will be run in the Northern Territory and Queensland from July 5 to 21.

LARGE fleets of military drones – both Australian and foreign – could soon fill the Territory’s skies.

In a submission to a Federal Government inquiry on “unmanned aircraft systems”, the NT Government said it would welcome US and Australian drones being based at RAAF Tindal, on the outskirts of Katherine.

The senate inquiry held its most recent hearings late last week, and will table a report by June 25.

“Basing such systems in the Northern Territory, particularly at RAAF Base Tindal, where population centres are small and there are vast remote areas between those centres, is likely to attract far less adverse public concern than in the major population centres such as Adelaide and Brisbane,” the submission said.

The report, authored by NT Department of Business manager of defence industry development Graham Tribe, argues that drones will play a key role in border protection, and in maintaining a military presence around strategically important offshore oil and gas projects.

The report describes Darwin as a “resilient, welcoming and united in its support of ­Defence, Defence personnel and Defence families.” The NT was the only state or Territory government to lodge a submission with the inquiry, which was dominated by aerospace companies and human rights groups.