“Australia obviously has a much larger area where testing is a bit more feasible – so I think that’s a unique thing, for example, that Australians bring to the table.”
China has denounced the AUKUS agreement as undermining peace in the region – a charge that Washington, Canberra and London reject.
But critics have also asked whether it is truly collaborative, or whether the United States, due to its size and overwhelming military power, will continue to dominate.
Wermuth said he hoped the two smaller partners would step in and “get better at this game – and they do”.
The Pentagon official who visited Australia last week for the Talisman Saber multinational said, “I certainly got the sense from talking to senior Australian officials that they’re not doing this to please us, they’re doing it.” Not just doing it for fun.” military practice.
“They’re doing it because they see it as their national interest in terms of being able to meet the different challenges that we see in the theater.”
