By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) -A key U.S. warship arrived in Australia on Saturday ahead of joint war games and the first summit between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump, which is expected to be dominated by military issues.
The America, the U.S. Navy’s lead amphibious assault ship in the Indo-Pacific, entered Sydney Harbour as the first of three ships in a strike group carrying 2,500 sailors and marines, submarine-hunting helicopters and F-35B fighter jets.
More than 30,000 personnel from 19 militaries have begun to arrive in Australia for Talisman Sabre, the largest Australian-U.S. war-fighting exercise. It will start next month and span 6,500 km (4,000 miles), from Australia’s Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia’s east coast.
The commander of the America, Rear Admiral Tom Shultz, said exercising in Australia was critical for the U.S. Navy’s readiness, while the Australian fleet commander, Rear Admiral Chris Smith, said the “trust and robust nature” of the bilateral relationship allowed the two allies to deal with change.
“The diversity of how we view the world is actually a real great strength in our alliance,” Smith told reporters, adding that Australia also had strong relationships with nations across the region.
Albanese and Trump are expected to meet on the sidelines of a summit in Canada of the Group of Seven economic powers, which starts on Sunday. Washington’s request for Canberra to raise defence spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product from 2% is expected to dominate the discussion.
The Pentagon said this week it was reviewing its AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership with Australia and Britain. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday this was “not a surprise”, adding the two countries continued to work closely.
But Michael Green, a former national security adviser to President George W. Bush, said it was unusual for the review into AUKUS to be conducted solely by the Pentagon and that Trump might link it to the spending request or to tariffs.
“It is unusual to make the review unilateral and public right before a summit, even if the Australian side knew. That is not good alliance management – it jams the Australian side,” said Green, president of the United States Studies Centre in Sydney.
Support for AUKUS in the Congress and U.S. Navy is considerable, however, and the review is unlikely to result in the submarine program being cancelled, he said.
India will participate for the first time in Talisman Sabre, along with a large contingent from Europe, said the exercise’s director, Brigadier Damian Hill. Australia, Singapore, the U.S. and Japan will hold large-scale live firings of rocket and missile systems, he said.
“It is the first time we are firing HIMARs in Australia, and our air defence capability will work alongside the United States Patriot systems for the first time, and that is really important,” Hill added.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by William Mallard)
