Amid rising concern over China’s military heft, the United States and Australia are rapidly operationalizing their alliance as part of a strategy of collective deterrence. At the heart of this agenda is a major expansion of bilateral force posture cooperation that will see Canberra assume an increasingly central role in hosting forward-deployed U.S. forces and preparing the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to support high-end military operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
At present, the persistent rotation of U.S. Bomber Task Forces through Australian airfields and the planned deployment of U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) to Western Australia under the Submarine Rotational Force-West (SRF-West) arrangement are the most advanced elements of force posture integration. Much more, however, is on the way. With new initiatives quickly progressing between the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Army, and Space Force and their ADF counterparts, Australia is transforming into a pivotal strategic node within the United States’ regional alliance network.
But the U.S.-Australia alliance has a long way to go before it is equipped to manage the requirements and risks of force posture…
