Australia buys 20 Hercules military planes as it strengthens its alliance with the United States
Australia announced on Monday the purchase of 20 US-made C-130J Hercules aircraft, days before the visit of senior US representatives.. for a ministerial summit in the oceanic country.
The purchase, which will replace and expand the old fleet of 12 Hercules, is valued at 9,800 million Australian dollars (6,597 million US dollars or 5,924 million euros), announced Defense Minister Richard Marles.
The new planes will be used for the deployment of humanitarian personnel, equipment and supplies for search and rescue, natural disaster relief, and medical evacuations, according to a statement from Marles' office.
Delivery will begin in 2027
In addition, these devices manufactured by the US company Lockheed Martin will be deployed in future defense and peacekeeping operations in the region and globally, as has happened in recent decades in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, among other conflicts.
The announcement of the purchase of these planes, which will begin to be delivered at the end of 2027, comes a few days before the visit to Australia of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, for an annual ministerial meeting on July 28 and 29 in the northeastern city of Brisbane.
It also coincides with the biannual “Talisman Sabre” military exercises between the U.S.. and Australia, which began last Saturday and ends on August 4, in various parts of Australian territory and with the participation of more than 30,000 soldiers and 11 other countries, such as Germany, France or Japan, as guests.
The Secretary of Defense will take advantage of his visit to the oceanic country to witness, along with Marles, one of these combat simulation exercises in northern Australia, where a Chinese spy ship was detected last week, according to a photograph captured from an Australian patrol plane and published today by the public network ABC.
The military exercises come at a time when several Western countries are coming together to show unity in the face of China's more assertive expansion in the strategic Indo-Pacific region, traditionally linked to the United States and Australia.
In September 2021, Australia and the United States, together with their ally the United Kingdom, formed the AUKUS (for the acronym in English of the three countries) security pact, which includes the development of nuclear submarines for the oceanic country, in what has been interpreted as an attempt to counteract the advances of China.