Deep in the outback, a flurry of construction by Australia and the United States is transforming this once quiet military installation into a potential launchpad in case of conflict with China.

Runways are being expanded and strengthened to accommodate the allies’ biggest airplanes, including American B-52 bombers. A pair of massive fuel depots is rising side by side to supply U.S. and Australian fighter jets. And two earth-covered bunkers have been built for U.S. munitions.

But the activity at RAAF Tindal, less than 2,000 miles from the emerging flash points of the South China Sea, isn’t unique. Across Australia, decades-old facilities — many built by the United States during World War II — are now being dusted off or upgraded amid growing fears of another global conflict.

Marles declined to comment on the increasing rotations ... but said the trajectory is “an increasing American force posture in Australia.”

Deploying 16,000 US Marines to Darwin each year would be the cheapest way of deterring Australia’s potential enemies, a new report claims, urging a huge American influx to arrive in the Top End as early as 2025.

This week, a report released by the Institute of Public Affairs’ pitched six recommendations in how the next Australian government should improve national security.

“If agreed, this larger USMC presence should be made to happen within the next term of government, that is, 2025-28,” the report says.

Additionally, the report suggested the boost should come with “significant” firepower and aviation assets.

An Osprey crash in Australia that killed three Marines last August was caused by multiple pilot errors during a near mid-air collision, a military investigation has found. It also found that squadron leadership had permitted “a culture that disregarded safety of flight.”

The Australia accident exposed significant safety issues within the squadron. Investigators recommended punitive actions, including potential court martial charges for one senior squadron member and potential administrative actions against the squadron's former commanding officer, Lt. Col. Joe Whitefield, who they said “permitted a culture that disregarded safety of flight procedures."

Given the seriousness of the safety violations, investigators also recommended all Marine Corps Osprey squadrons schedule a temporary pause in flight operations, known as a standdown, to review this accident.

Darwin’s Diggers will be allowed to climb aboard the US V-22 Osprey aircraft, despite the controversial tiltrotor being placed on a worldwide flight restriction.

The news comes as Darwin’s 1st Brigade ramp up training activities alongside their US Marine counterparts across the Top End.

The Department of Defence told the NT News there were no restrictions on the carriage of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel in US aircraft.

Marine Rotation Force – Darwin (MRF-D) also confirmed there were no restrictions stopping their Australian counterparts from boarding their airframes.

“They clearly don’t have answers still on the cause of the mishaps and why the hard clutch engagement is happening, and they don’t have a fix for it”

An MV-22 Osprey touched down on an Australian warship last week, another indicator the tiltrotor is returning to routine service with the Marine Corps after a series of deadly crashes.

The U.S. military grounded its fleet of about 400 Ospreys between Dec. 6 and March 8 as it investigated the Nov. 29 crash of an Air Force CV-22 Osprey that killed eight airmen off Japan’s southern coast. An Osprey assigned to last year’s Marine rotational force crashed in August north of Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, killing three Marines and injuring 20 others, three seriously. The Osprey has been plagued by a problem called hard clutch engagement that caused loss of control in some instances and was blamed for the deaths of five Marines in a June 2022 Osprey crash in California.

After the November crash, the Marines put their Ospreys in the air again less than a week after Naval Air Systems Command cleared them for flight on March 8.

Navy Ospreys are not yet flying passengers to aircraft flight decks