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The United States is talking to the Turnbull government about stepping up the presence of US long-range strike bombers in Australia in a further deepening of the alliance as China continues to provoke concern.
General Lori Robinson, Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, said in Canberra on Tuesday that with China's "militarisation" of the South China Sea, the US and its partners had to "maintain a credible combat power".
She said China's military build-up raised the risk of "miscalculation" in which conflict is sparked by some unexpected incident.
And she echoed fellow senior US military figures in urging other countries, including Australia, to continue flying and sailing through the South China Sea in the face of China's growing military presence such as the stationing of surface-to-air missiles and fighter jets.
To strengthen military ties, US bombers – including possibly supersonic B-1 strike bombers – and aerial refuelling tankers would regularly rotate through northern Australia rather than conducting exercises on an ad hoc basis.
"We're in the process of talking about rotational forces, bombers and tankers out of Australia," General Robinson said.
"It gives us the opportunity to train with Australia … it gives us the opportunity to strengthen the ties we already have with the Royal Australian Air Force and it gives us the opportunity to train our pilots and understand the theatre."
She said they would operate out of Tindal and Darwin air bases. When the rotations start, how frequent they would be, and how long US personnel remain in Australia were all still to be finalised, she said.
"It would be useful to train across the spectrum of capability. Does that mean we're going to have B-1s and B-52s and that? I don't know yet because we're still working our way through the details of that."
US B-52s have trained in Australia before. But the presence of B-1 Lancer bombers would be significant as they have a much longer range than the older B-52s and could easily reach the contested area of the South China Sea.
When a US official, David Shear, said last May that the US meant to fly B-1s out of Australia, his remarks were played down by Canberra but not before Beijing expressed "serious concern" about the prospect.
The B-1 carries the largest weapons payload of any US plane. It can carry a wide range of conventional weapons including cruise missiles and GPS-guided precision bombs.
B-1s have pummelled Taliban targets in Afghanistan and done heavy damage to Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. A retired US Air Force general told the Washington Post recently that one B-1 could drop as many bombs as 40 fighter jets.
Defence Minister Marise Payne said the talks were part of the Force Posture Initiative begun by former prime minister Julia Gillard and finalised by Tony Abbott. She confirmed it would "result in increased rotations of US Air Force elements through northern Australia".
"Australia remains strongly supportive of the US rebalance to our near region, and we work together closely in support of our common regional interests," she said.
General Robinson, a four-star general and one of the US military's most senior women commanders, warned of the "seriousness of tone that is being set by China's militarisation of the South China Sea".
"As Admiral Harris, US Pacific Command commander and my boss, repeatedly stated over the past few weeks, we must continue to maintain a credible combat power and we must continue to exercise our freedom to fly and sail in international air space and waters, and encourage partners and allies to do the same, or risk losing it throughout the region," she said.
United States talking to Turnbull government about stepping up presence of B-1 Bomber war planes in Australia
General Lori Robinson, Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, said in Canberra on Tuesday that with China's "militarisation" of the South China Sea, the US and its partners had to "maintain a credible combat power".
She said China's military build-up raised the risk of "miscalculation" in which conflict is sparked by some unexpected incident.
And she echoed fellow senior US military figures in urging other countries, including Australia, to continue flying and sailing through the South China Sea in the face of China's growing military presence such as the stationing of surface-to-air missiles and fighter jets.
To strengthen military ties, US bombers – including possibly supersonic B-1 strike bombers – and aerial refuelling tankers would regularly rotate through northern Australia rather than conducting exercises on an ad hoc basis.
"We're in the process of talking about rotational forces, bombers and tankers out of Australia," General Robinson said.
"It gives us the opportunity to train with Australia … it gives us the opportunity to strengthen the ties we already have with the Royal Australian Air Force and it gives us the opportunity to train our pilots and understand the theatre."
She said they would operate out of Tindal and Darwin air bases. When the rotations start, how frequent they would be, and how long US personnel remain in Australia were all still to be finalised, she said.
"It would be useful to train across the spectrum of capability. Does that mean we're going to have B-1s and B-52s and that? I don't know yet because we're still working our way through the details of that."
US B-52s have trained in Australia before. But the presence of B-1 Lancer bombers would be significant as they have a much longer range than the older B-52s and could easily reach the contested area of the South China Sea.
When a US official, David Shear, said last May that the US meant to fly B-1s out of Australia, his remarks were played down by Canberra but not before Beijing expressed "serious concern" about the prospect.
The B-1 carries the largest weapons payload of any US plane. It can carry a wide range of conventional weapons including cruise missiles and GPS-guided precision bombs.
B-1s have pummelled Taliban targets in Afghanistan and done heavy damage to Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. A retired US Air Force general told the Washington Post recently that one B-1 could drop as many bombs as 40 fighter jets.
Defence Minister Marise Payne said the talks were part of the Force Posture Initiative begun by former prime minister Julia Gillard and finalised by Tony Abbott. She confirmed it would "result in increased rotations of US Air Force elements through northern Australia".
"Australia remains strongly supportive of the US rebalance to our near region, and we work together closely in support of our common regional interests," she said.
General Robinson, a four-star general and one of the US military's most senior women commanders, warned of the "seriousness of tone that is being set by China's militarisation of the South China Sea".
"As Admiral Harris, US Pacific Command commander and my boss, repeatedly stated over the past few weeks, we must continue to maintain a credible combat power and we must continue to exercise our freedom to fly and sail in international air space and waters, and encourage partners and allies to do the same, or risk losing it throughout the region," she said.
United States talking to Turnbull government about stepping up presence of B-1 Bomber war planes in Australia
