US Congressman Calls for Australia to Develop Long Range Missiles to Deter War With China

Subcommittee chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) speaks during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation hearing about artificial intelligence on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 18, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has called for Australia and the UK to adopt a “war footing” to avoid conflict with China.

During a talk at the Australian American Leadership Dialogue in Canberra on Aug. 10, Mr. Gallagher said the trilateral AUKUS defence pact would integrate Australia into the U.S. missile supply chain and that long-base precision missiles could be forward deployed in the Indo-Pacific, reported The Australian.

Forward deployment is a policy used by the U.S. to maintain a large overseas presence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, where allies seek to counter an aggressive China, according to a report (pdf) by U.S. based The Heritage Foundation.

“An AUKUS crash program on long-range precision fires, with the associated effort to forward base and operate these fires in concentric rings of fire throughout Indo-Pacom (United States Indo-Pacific Command), could supply our near-term deterrent as we await longer-term deliverables like nuclear attack subs,” Mr. Gallagher said.

“We must prioritise the trilateral co-production of next-generation long-range missiles.”

Soldiers from 1-1 Air Defense Artillery Battalion fire a Patriot missile during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 at Camp Growl in Queensland, Australia, on July 16, 2021.
(U.S. Army photo by Maj. Trevor Wild, 38th ADA BDE Public Affairs.)

This follows a statement by U.S. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, who on Aug. 8 said that Australia could be a testing ground for U.S. hypersonic and other long-range precision weapons under the AUKUS trilateral defence alliance.

“Australia obviously has a tremendous amount of territory where testing is a little bit more doable, so I think that’s a unique thing, as an example, that the Australians bring to the table,” Ms. Wormuth said.

Assurance of US Approval for Delivery of Virginia Subs

Mr. Gallagher assured Australia that the U.S. Congress would approve the transfer of U.S. Viriginia-class submarines but emphasised that the U.S. needed billions of extra investments to boost local production.

This comes after Kevin Rudd, former Australian prime minister and now ambassador to the U.S. said he is confident the deal to supply Australia with nuclear submarines will go ahead despite opposition in Australia’s Labor Party and the U.S. Congress.

In July, Australia and the U.S. signed a pact that will see the Royal Australian Navy acquire at least three Virginia-class submarines from the U.S. starting in the 2030s.

However, later that month, around 30 Republican congressmen told U.S. President Joe Biden that providing the submarines to Australia under the AUKUS pact would “unacceptably weaken” the U.S. Navy fleet.

“Despite the US Navy’s requirement for 66 attack submarines, we’re at 49, going down potentially to 46, and the latest 30-year shipbuilding plan does not even get us to 60 SSNs until the 2050s,” Mr. Gallagher said.

Mr. Gallagher added that Australia had a key role in supplying the U.S. with weapons due to the shortfalls of U.S. local supply.

“When the Select Committee on the CCP held an unclassified Taiwan war game earlier this spring, the U.S. side exhausted most of its key munitions after only six days.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, speaks at a hearing in Washington on July 13, 2023, in a still from the video (House Select Committee on the CCP/Screenshot via NTD)

The Congressman said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict demonstrated how quickly the U.S. “can go Winchester in modern war”—running out of ammunition.

“Consequently, as much as Australia is relying on the U.S. for submarine delivery, the U.S. is likewise going to rely on Australia to codevelop and supplement our munitions stockpiles.”

Gallagher Likens CCP to ‘Great White Shark’

Mr. Gallagher likened the CCP to a great white shark that, when compared to a killer whale, which is the AUKUS alliance, the killer whale always triumphed over the shark.

“The CCP may be a fearsome great white shark, cruising the ocean depths solo, but they fear AUKUS, the strength of which is in our partnerships, in our cunning, and our co-ordination,” Mr Gallagher said.

“With AUKUS, we have the potential to strengthen deterrence, to bring this region from the brink of war.”

The Congressman also declared that the U.S. will “fulfil its commitment to its friends,” but that commitment would need to be accompanied by a U.S. expansion in submarine industrial capacity.

“AUKUS will be successful, but it’s going to take billions more in investment by the US—far beyond the Biden administration’s $2 billion (AU$3.1 billion) request,” Mr. Gallagher said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L), U.S. President Joe Biden (C), and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) hold a press conference after a trilateral meeting during the AUKUS summit in San Diego, Calif., on March 13, 2023. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

“Nothing in Washington is unanimous, but support for the US-Australia alliance, for AUKUS, and for the submarine deal is as close as it comes.

“To fulfil our AUKUS commitments, we must expand our submarine industrial capacity. This will take considerable resources.

“Australia’s multibillion-dollar AUKUS contributions to the US submarine industrial base are very much appreciated ... But freedom has never been cheap.

“There is no choice between fulfilling our navy’s requirements and delivering subs for Australia. We can and must do both.”

“Such is the price of liberty. For together, we are the beating heart of the free world, and if we don’t guard our God-given freedom from communist aggression, no one will.”

The CCP has criticised the AUKUS pact for undermining peace in the region—a statement the AUKUS alliance rejects.