Australia to upgrade military

By Alan Thornhill

AP Writer

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australia said Wednesday it would spend an extra $12.4 billion over 10 years to upgrade its military, reflecting a new emphasis on security in its increasingly strife-torn neighborhood.

Prime Minister John Howard said the money will be used to buy warplanes and ships and make troops more ready for combat and for international peacekeeping.

Howard sought to reassure Australia’s neighbors that the upgrade was contained in “the cautious document of a friendly country.” But Defense Minister John Moore said it responded to new regional security concerns – from East Timor’s violent switchover from Indonesian rule to rebel or coup activity this summer in Fiji and the Solomon Islands.

“We made a judgment that surrounding us was a sea of instability,” Moore told reporters.

New equipment would include up to 100 warplanes to replace Australia’s aging fighter bombers, four new surveillance aircraft and new helicopters. The navy would receive three new frigates and system upgrades for its six Collins class submarines.

The number of troops on permanent readiness would be increased from 51,000 to 54,000 soldiers by 2010.

The new policy “represents the most comprehensive reappraisal of Australian defense capability for decades,” Howard told Parliament.

Howard said Australia would continue to seek good defense relations with Asian countries, including Indonesia, and noted that U.S. involvement was “the single most important factor in maintaining security in the region.”

But he emphasized that Australia needed to be self-reliant in its ability to protect itself, even if direct attack was “not at all likely under current circumstances.”

“Economic growth and regional integration augur well for the future security of the Asia-Pacific,” Howard said. “But they cannot be taken for granted.”

Noting Australian missions in East Timor, the Solomon Islands and rebellious Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, Howard said demand on Australia for peacekeeping operations had increased sharply in the past two years, and may rise further.

But the government was “realistic” about the scale of contribution Australia could make to international forces.

“We will not develop capabilities specifically to undertake operations beyond our immediate region,” Howard said.