Enduring presence: How Australia can support a more resilient US maritime posture in the Indo-Pacific 3 Introduction Since the conclusion of the Second World War, Such challenges create significant opportunities forward deployed US naval power has represented within the US-Australia alliance, especially in one of the most explicit, visible signals of US com- the wake of the announcements of the AU. [...] The PRC in particular retains considerable ability to deploy large amounts of mines in a short period by leveraging its navy as well as its maritime Filling the gap left by the retirement of the RAN’s militia, which has reportedly received mine war- MCM ships, as well as the approaching obsoles- fare training in the past.13 However, the modern cence of the US MCM fleet, would require building US N. [...] 8 Enduring presence: How Australia can support a more resilient US maritime posture in the Indo-Pacific Basing and infrastructure The US Navy’s footprint in the Indo-Pacific has The only meaningful exception to this in Southeast remained largely stagnant since the withdrawal of Asia is Singapore, which plays host to several Amer- US forces from the Philippines in 1991. [...] ciated elements of the AUKUS Pillar I agreement, Shortly thereafter, the idea of basing a US Carrier some estimate the initiative will create approxi- Strike Group in Western Australia was suggested in mately 20,000 jobs for the whole of Australia over a report from the US Center for Strategic and Inter- the 30-year life of the AUKUS submarine program. [...] Howev- around 90 per cent of its equipment by sea in the er, the ships in the Maritime Prepositioning Squad- event of a major conflict, present trends are dis- rons are ageing, and increasingly the subject of tinctly unfavourable.65 In 2020, the Administrator cost-saving discussions that would see them either of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) tes- deactivated or left in a state of degraded.
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