Australia’s Defense Spending to Surge Amid Contest in Indo-Pacific
- Scott Morrison pledges to buy U.S. Navy missiles in speech
- Strategy, weaponry overhaul comes after Beijing tensions rise
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced an overhaul of Australia’s defense strategy and force structure, as the U.S. ally looks to counter an increasingly assertive China in an Indo-Pacific region he calls “the focus of the dominant global contest of our age.”
In a major speech delivered in Canberra on Wednesday, Morrison said that his government will spend A$270 billion ($185 billion) in defense capability over the next decade, from about A$195 billion when the nation’s previous strategic overhaul was announced in 2016.