Australian defense chief doubles down on trilateral ties but rules out Asia pact
Australia is doubling down on a push to deepen trilateral military cooperation with Japan and the United States, but has ruled out a broader Indo-Pacific collective defense pact for now, the nation's defense chief told The Japan Times.
'The three countries are doing a whole lot to, in a sense, trilateralize bilateral activities that each of us have, and that is greatly enhancing our capacity and our capability across our three nations," Richard Marles said in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore over the weekend.
One example of this approach, he said, is in the area of air and missile defense where they are aiming to build a networked architecture.
'We look at the really good work that the two of them, Japan and the U.S., are doing, and we have sought to do what we can to join in,' Marles said, pointing out that such opportunities come about because of the 'very deep trust that exists between the three countries.'
Other examples include greater intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cooperation, more joint training activities such as the first trilateral Bushido Guardian exercise set to be held in September and the reciprocal deployments of trilateral air assets, including airlift and F-35 fighters. Efforts are also under way to enable Japan's Amphibious Rapid Deployment to participate in the U.S. Marines rotations that take place in the northern Australian city of Darwin every year.
The push, which comes at a time when Washington is urging both allies to ramp up defense spending, also extends to defense-industrial cooperation in a bid to not only boost military capabilities but also supply-chain resilience.
For instance, efforts are under way to leverage Australia's long-range strike weapons, Japan's stand-off defense capabilities and U.S. systems to increase trilateral deterrence. The three partners are also looking to accelerate technology transfer in the rapidly emerging field of 'collaborative combat aircraft and autonomy' and start joint research on composite aerospace materials by mid-2026. Cooperative projects under the trilateral Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) arrangement are also being planned.
Marles' remarks followed a trilateral meeting in Singapore with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Pete Hegseth and Gen Nakatani, where the defense chiefs agreed to more trilateral alignment of both policy and operational objectives as well as to enhance activities around Japan while including the Self-Defense Forces in more bilateral activities between the U.S. and Australia.
'As a priority, we direct each defense authority to further explore the reinforcement of systems, to support trilateral policy and operational coordination,' the partners said in a joint statement released during the security conference.
U.S. Marines utilize a combat rubber raiding craft for transit during an amphibious assault with the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade in Australia during Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 in August 2023. |
U.S. Marine Corps
Much of the military cooperation with Tokyo is expected to be coordinated via the SDF's newly launched Joint Operations Command, which is set to play a critical role in responses with allies and partners to a broad spectrum of potential crises.
A key factor behind the trilateralization push has been the speed at which Japan-Australia ties have been expanding — observers and officials both say the quasi-allies appear committed to closely coordinating their national security policies than ever before.
'The depth and extent of our relationship with Japan is profound,' said Marles, who also serves as Australia's deputy prime minister.
'It has never been greater ... and that's not by accident,' he added, noting that the bilateral visiting-forces pact — formally known as a Reciprocal Access Agreement — that entered force in August 2023 'has clearly been a really important enabler,' facilitating more frequent and complex joint activities across all domains.
The strategic partners are also gearing up for boosted industrial tie-ups over the coming months.
'Japan is a technological powerhouse, right at the cutting-edge of modernity ... and so it just makes sense that we should be doing more in terms of cooperating across our innovation systems, our defense-science systems,' Marles said. 'We have talked about wanting to do that, and are looking at opportunities for us to cooperate more at that level and across our defense-industrial bases.'
A key opportunity could potentially arise from the Royal Australian Navy's program to acquire general-purpose frigates to replace its aging Anzac-class warships.
Australia is now examining the bids put forward by manufacturers from Germany and Japan, the latter of which is proposing an Australianized version of its upgraded Mogami-class frigates. A decision on the winning bid is expected to be made before the end of this year.
'Both bids are very impressive,' Marles said. 'We are currently working through those in an appropriate way.'
Ultimately, he noted, "we need to be making the best decision for Australia in relation to this,' adding that an important aspect will be the speed of acquisition. 'The commitment is to do that in this decade, in the 2020s.That's a very short time frame. And so that's the focus of both tenders, in terms of the way they put forward their bids.'
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles arrives for a trilateral meeting between Japan, the U.S. and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday. |
REUTERS
To get the frigates as quickly as possible — the first one needs to be in the water by 2029 — the three initial vessels would be built overseas in the yard of the designer, while manufacturing of the remaining ships, up to eight more, would transition to Henderson in Perth, Western Australia.
But Australia's growing security cooperation with like-minded countries goes beyond the U.S. and Japan, as it is also a member of U.S.-led groupings such as AUKUS, 'the Quad' and 'the Squad,' which also involve countries such as Britain, India and the Philippines.
Asked whether he would welcome steps to transform these 'informal' defense initiatives into a collective defense pact, Marles said Canberra is comfortable with the arrangements it has with the United States and New Zealand, and 'wouldn't be seeking to alter that.'
That said, he pointed to the numerous cooperation opportunities offered by these 'minilateral' groupings, which often follow specific agendas.
'It's not the same as the mutual defense obligations that exist in relation to NATO,' Marles said, but in a practical way, 'what we're doing is working with these countries to build up our interoperability, our levels of cooperation and our capability.'
All of that, he added, is aimed at 'contributing to the stability and rules-based order within the region, and ultimately, therefore contributing to peace and prosperity.'
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