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