US Navy Needs to Help Australia Defend Its Waters: Former Navy Secretary

Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Navy readiness in Washington on April 9, 2019. Alex Edelman/Getty Images

Former U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said the U.S. Navy should provide more help to defend Australia’s waters until it acquires its own nuclear submarines in response to the rising threat from Beijing.

Australia’s Navy is expected to experience a capability gap as the first nuclear submarines under the AUKUS agreement will not be ready for more than a decade.

This means the life of existing aging diesel-powered Collins Class submarines will likely need to be extended.

Spencer suggested the integration of Australian and U.S. Navy crews to patrol Australian territorial waters in U.S. Virginia class submarines.

“I believe it is difficult to say, ‘We are your ally, and we are here to support you when you are sitting at the tip of the spear,' but it’s going to be 10 years until we deliver the critical piece of gear you need,” Spencer told The Australian.

He added that Australian investment into U.S. industrial capability could help build and deliver the submarines faster.

Spencer was secretary of the U.S. Navy during the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019, when he was asked by then Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to resign.

Australia’s Defence Strategic Review is currently underway, set to be handed to the government in March 2023. It will identify any gaps in its preparation for a potential conflict within the next decade, including issues surrounding the submarines, and recommend how they can be addressed.

Meanwhile, Chinese state-run media Global Times called AUKUS a tool to stir trouble and create “suspicion” about the Chinese regime’s intentions.

Following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s in-person meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Beijing warned Australia against sending the “wrong signal” and deepening distrust between both countries about AUKUS.

Albanese has repeated that Australia would be willing to cooperate with Beijing. However, that would not involve compromising Australian values.

Australian Needs to Bolster Military, Says Defence Minister

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles previously remarked that while Australia’s military capabilities will never reach those of major powers, it needed to strengthen its own capability to have less reliance on the U.S.

In a keynote address to the Sydney Institute annual dinner on Nov. 14, Marles said the situation in the Indo-Pacific had become “far too precarious” to depend on the United States as Australia’s security guarantor.

“The reality is that a tougher environment will require a more hardnosed Australian approach to the defence of our interests: the ability to project power to shape outcomes and deter threats,” he said.

“We must marshal and integrate all arms of national power to achieve Australia’s strategic objectives.

“Gone are the days of simply paying the entry price to obtain our security guarantee from our security guarantor.”

Marles also signalled in October that the defence budget would face some scrutiny going forward.

“There will be prudent management of the defence budget because the Albanese Government understands this is the way we’ll get submarines in the water faster and get projects like the Offshore Patrol Vessels and the frigates back on track,” he said.

“In doing so, we are building a potent and capable Defence Force which will keep our country safe in the future.”

The attention of Western nations has increasingly turned to the Indo-Pacific region for concern of potential escalation in the conflict.

Nations have noted Australia’s lagging defence capabilities, with the former European Union ambassador to Australia saying the bloc remained ready and willing to sell Canberra military equipment to plug any capability gap.

“There is a long-standing defence cooperation between European Union and Australia,” former ambassador Michael Pulch told AAP in August.

“Frigate purchases, petrol boats … and armoured vehicles do come from Europe, and we continue to work together in that defence cooperation space.

“Europe has developed top-notch technology they’ll prepare to export to like-minded countries like Australia.”