Australia eyes huge overhaul in military

Move slammed as misjudgment that will harm stability of the Asia-Pacific

Australia has announced its biggest defense overhaul in decades with significant cuts to the army and a major focus on long-range precision missile systems.

The long-awaited Defence Strategic Review sets out a blueprint for Australia's strategic policy, defense planning and resourcing over the coming decades.

Releasing the review on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia faces the most challenging strategic circumstances since World War II "both in our region and around the world".

The full report, which lays out a number of scenarios, including future eyes on China and Australia becoming less dependent on the United States, was not released to the public. Instead, the government released a 110-page summary.

The review touted Australia's existing military structure as no longer fit for purpose, especially "with the rise of China". It mentioned "China" nine times.

Xu Shanpin, a research fellow at the Center for East Asia Studies of Xiangtan University in China's Hunan province, said that one of the purposes of Australia's military reform is to enhance its military intervention capability in the South China Sea and increase its strategic deterrence against China.

Excuse for expansion

This is actually an excuse for expanding military preparation based on the "China threat theory", Xu said, adding that this stems from Australia's biased judgment of the Asia-Pacific strategic environment and its misunderstanding of China's peaceful development and military modernization.

Beijing has dismissed the rhetoric, saying it hoped some countries would refrain from using China as an excuse to expand their military power or groundlessly hype up the "China threat theory".

China's military policy is defensive in nature and poses no threat to any country, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing on Monday.

Xu said that Australia's misjudgment would harm the stability of the Asia-Pacific, as the region's strategic balance is already fragile with the naval arms race and nuclear proliferation emerging.

However, the public summary said Australia will go ahead with the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines through the Australia-United Kingdom-United States alliance, also known as AUKUS, despite doubts and criticisms from the international community and within the country.

The report also recommended that Australia develop a precision missile strike capability to hit long-range targets at sea, in the air or on land. It added that these missiles should be made in Australia, reducing reliance on the US.

Under the proposed changes, the army will see significant cuts to its military infantry fighting vehicle program, cutting it from 450 vehicles to 129, with a second regiment of self-propelled howitzers scrapped.

Retired lieutenant general Peter Leahy, the former chief of the Australian army, said the strategic environment has changed and Australia needs to adapt.

Leahy, who is now director of the National Security Institute at the University of Canberra, said as an ex-army officer there were a few things in the review he was not "too thrilled" about.

One was cutting the number of infantry vehicles which, he said, introduces risk into the army.

Michael Shoebridge, founder and director of Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said: "We live in a world where the Afghan and Iraq era has ended, and the counterterrorism era has ended.

"The Australian military now has to operate alone in our near region from the Strait of Malacca, across the South Pacific and cannot be plugged in for the Americans anymore," he told ABC News.