(NSI News Source Info) SYDNEY - May 5, 2009: Australia's defense budget will continue to grow beyond 2030 to sustain a significant increase in the size of the Royal Australian Navy as well as an overhaul of the rest of Australia's combat equipment. 
Three Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers are under construction for the Australian Defence Force. (PH2 MATTHEW BASH / U.S. NAVY)
This was one of the key messages from Australia's long-awaited defense white paper, which was released by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd here May 2.
The paper revealed plans to double the Navy's submarine fleet from six boats to 12 over the next 30 years. These new submarines, along with the planned replacement for the eight Anzac-class frigates and the three Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers, which are already under construction, will be armed with sea-launched, land-attack cruise missiles. And the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will acquire what the white paper terms "a satellite with a remote sensing capability, most likely to be based on a high-resolution ... synthetic aperture radar."
The paper also confirms the Air Force's commitment to purchase "around 100" F-35A Joint Strike Fighters.
Underpinning these and other planned purchases, the government has promised to continue increasing the defense budget by an average of 3 percent per year in real terms, out to the 2017-18 fiscal year. This is on top of the annual inflation index of 2.5 percent, which will be maintained to 2030, and amounts to 107 billion Australian dollars ($78.23 billion) in defense spending over the next four fiscal years alone. The 2008-09 defense budget is 22 billion Australian dollars.
Details of the defense budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which begins July 1, won't be revealed until the government's annual budget announcement May 12. But Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announced that his department will launch a strategic reform program designed to harvest cost savings of up to 20 billion Australian dollars over the next 10 years; the savings will be reinvested in the defense portfolio to pay for personnel and equipment.
"The truth is we are seeing a period of significant military and naval expansion in the wider Asia-Pacific region, and it's important, therefore, that Australia makes proper provision for that in our own planning horizon," Rudd told reporters here at a press conference May 2.
The 140-page white paper, "Defending Australia in the Asia-Pacific Century: Force 2030," highlights the importance of Australia's alliance with the U.S., as well as the growth of China and India.
"Within the Asia-Pacific region, economic growth should help foster stability and security," Rudd said at the paper's release. "But there are likely to be tensions between the major powers where the interests of the United States, China, Japan, India and Russia intersect. While the chance of direct confrontation between any of these major powers is small, there is always the possibility of miscalculation."
But he predicted the U.S. will remain the most powerful and influential global and regional power out to at least 2030.
"No other power will have the military, economic or strategic capacity to challenge U.S. primacy over the period covered by this white paper," Rudd said. "Furthermore, our alliance with the United States will remain the bedrock on which Australia's national security is built. This alliance is enduring and remains vital to Australia's future defense."
While the white paper doesn't point to a more powerful China as a military threat to Australia or the wider region, it states, "The pace, scope and structure of China's military modernization have the potential to give its neighbours cause for concern if not carefully explained, and if China doesn't reach out to others to build confidence regarding its military plans."
However, the paper also notes that Australia is one of the most secure countries in the world by virtue of its geography. To keep it that way, the country's strategic priorities are to help maintain a secure immediate neighborhood; help contribute to strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific region; and help promote and contribute to a stable, rules-based global security order.
To address these priorities, the ADF will remain structured to meet a hierarchy of tasks, Rudd said.
"This means we need to have the capacity to act independently where we have unique interests at stake and do not wish to be reliant on the combat forces of others, lead military coalitions where we have shared strategic interests at stake with others, and make tailored contributions to military coalitions where we share wider strategic interests with others."
Improving the ADF's readiness will be a priority, Rudd pledged.
"Over the next decade, we will be devoting approximately 30 billion [Australian dollars] to fixing the existing force. This includes approximately 6 billion for more than 50 new projects to fill the crucial gaps that have been left in equipment and protection for our women and men in uniform, approximately 18 billion to top-up existing projects that have been underfunded in the past, and approximately 6 billion to fix systems and infrastructure that support our women and men in uniform."
Three Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers are under construction for the Australian Defence Force. (PH2 MATTHEW BASH / U.S. NAVY)
This was one of the key messages from Australia's long-awaited defense white paper, which was released by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd here May 2.
The paper revealed plans to double the Navy's submarine fleet from six boats to 12 over the next 30 years. These new submarines, along with the planned replacement for the eight Anzac-class frigates and the three Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers, which are already under construction, will be armed with sea-launched, land-attack cruise missiles. And the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will acquire what the white paper terms "a satellite with a remote sensing capability, most likely to be based on a high-resolution ... synthetic aperture radar."
The paper also confirms the Air Force's commitment to purchase "around 100" F-35A Joint Strike Fighters.
Underpinning these and other planned purchases, the government has promised to continue increasing the defense budget by an average of 3 percent per year in real terms, out to the 2017-18 fiscal year. This is on top of the annual inflation index of 2.5 percent, which will be maintained to 2030, and amounts to 107 billion Australian dollars ($78.23 billion) in defense spending over the next four fiscal years alone. The 2008-09 defense budget is 22 billion Australian dollars.
Details of the defense budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which begins July 1, won't be revealed until the government's annual budget announcement May 12. But Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announced that his department will launch a strategic reform program designed to harvest cost savings of up to 20 billion Australian dollars over the next 10 years; the savings will be reinvested in the defense portfolio to pay for personnel and equipment.
"The truth is we are seeing a period of significant military and naval expansion in the wider Asia-Pacific region, and it's important, therefore, that Australia makes proper provision for that in our own planning horizon," Rudd told reporters here at a press conference May 2.
The 140-page white paper, "Defending Australia in the Asia-Pacific Century: Force 2030," highlights the importance of Australia's alliance with the U.S., as well as the growth of China and India.
"Within the Asia-Pacific region, economic growth should help foster stability and security," Rudd said at the paper's release. "But there are likely to be tensions between the major powers where the interests of the United States, China, Japan, India and Russia intersect. While the chance of direct confrontation between any of these major powers is small, there is always the possibility of miscalculation."
But he predicted the U.S. will remain the most powerful and influential global and regional power out to at least 2030.
"No other power will have the military, economic or strategic capacity to challenge U.S. primacy over the period covered by this white paper," Rudd said. "Furthermore, our alliance with the United States will remain the bedrock on which Australia's national security is built. This alliance is enduring and remains vital to Australia's future defense."
While the white paper doesn't point to a more powerful China as a military threat to Australia or the wider region, it states, "The pace, scope and structure of China's military modernization have the potential to give its neighbours cause for concern if not carefully explained, and if China doesn't reach out to others to build confidence regarding its military plans."
However, the paper also notes that Australia is one of the most secure countries in the world by virtue of its geography. To keep it that way, the country's strategic priorities are to help maintain a secure immediate neighborhood; help contribute to strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific region; and help promote and contribute to a stable, rules-based global security order.
To address these priorities, the ADF will remain structured to meet a hierarchy of tasks, Rudd said.
"This means we need to have the capacity to act independently where we have unique interests at stake and do not wish to be reliant on the combat forces of others, lead military coalitions where we have shared strategic interests at stake with others, and make tailored contributions to military coalitions where we share wider strategic interests with others."
Improving the ADF's readiness will be a priority, Rudd pledged.
"Over the next decade, we will be devoting approximately 30 billion [Australian dollars] to fixing the existing force. This includes approximately 6 billion for more than 50 new projects to fill the crucial gaps that have been left in equipment and protection for our women and men in uniform, approximately 18 billion to top-up existing projects that have been underfunded in the past, and approximately 6 billion to fix systems and infrastructure that support our women and men in uniform."
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