Warship to join US fleet in hot zone
THE guided-missile frigate HMAS Sydney is about to join the US Seventh Fleet in Japan at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the South China Sea.
The warship will be "embedded" with a US aircraft carrier strike group operating out of Yokosuka.
The deployment comes as the Gillard government is working to manage Australia's relationships with China and the US after the Prime Minister sealed a "strategic relationship" with Beijing during her recent visit, and with the new defence white paper due out in June.
Analysts say it is significant that the frigate will operate from Japan.
The mission has been long-planned to increase the navy's experience at providing air defence for a fleet, in preparation for the arrival of the navy's two massive landing ships and three air warfare destroyers.
But it comes at a tense time, with North Korea's bellicose posturing and the possibility of clashes between warships from China and Japan.
There are several potential flashpoints in the region and as North Korean rhetoric escalated this month, Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Australia strongly supported the US in its commitment to protect South Korea.
"Australia has made it clear we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Republic of Korea, also with Japan," Mr Smith said.
The minister noted that South Korea had endured enormous provocation, including the sinking of its navy corvette, the Cheonan, with the loss of many lives.
Peter Jennings, a former senior Defence official who now heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank, said the deployment was significant. "It does reflect a return to the type of co-operation that used to happen in the 1980s and 90s when we exercised more frequently with the Americans," Mr Jennings said.
"What we are seeing here is part of a pattern of us starting to rebuild relations with the US Pacific command operating out of Honolulu."
Mr Jennings said while the Australian frigate could make only a small contribution compared with the firepower of the massive US Seventh Fleet, the Australian warship's inclusion was important.
"It would have a role to play in a conflict if that happened," Mr Jennings said. "It's an important thing to do in light of the tensions in North Asia."
If there was even a limited conflict in North Asia, that could have a huge impact on Australia, Mr Jennings said.
He said the fact the frigate would operate from Japan indicated that "we are getting close to the Japanese".
The Japan Coast Guard said in a statement three days ago that eight Chinese government ships had entered Japanese territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku-Diaoyu islands that both nations claim.
The Senkaku chain, which China calls the Diaoyu, lies in the East China Sea and the islands are also claimed by Taiwan.
China claims territorial rights over the entire South China Sea, but that is disputed by several of its neighbours. Last month, Vietnam accused China of firing on a fishing boat near the Paracel Islands. It was denied by Beijing.
In an official statement issued yesterday after an ASEAN meeting, Southeast Asian leaders reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability and maritime security in the South China Sea and the need to ensure disputes were resolved without the use of force.
For its deployment, HMAS Sydney has been fitted with a highly sophisticated new communications system to allow it to operate with the US Navy.
Should tensions escalate into a confrontation, the warship is configured to form part of the protective screen for the US carrier battle group.
HMAS Sydney is an Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate launched in 1980. It was sent to the Persian Gulf five times in support of US operations during the Gulf War, the war in Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Its role will ultimately be taken over by one of the navy's three air warfare destroyers now being built.
Mr Jennings said the Gillard government appeared to be underplaying the increasing military co-operation between Australia and the US.
As part of that growing military co-operation, a team of about 250 US marines arrived in Darwin last weekend in the second rotation of a force that is intended to build up to 2500 in about 2016-17.
A US Senate committee noted this month that accommodating a fully equipped US marines taskforce in Darwin would require new infrastructure costing an estimated $US1.6 billion.
The potent and self-contained Marines Air Ground Task Group will eventually come with its own ships and aircraft.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute analysts Andrew Davies and Mark Thomson have said it made strategic sense for Australia to help out its US ally with the cost of its rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region at a time of defence budget cuts in both countries.
The announcements made by Ms Gillard in China included a plan for "working-level" talks between Defence officials and China's People's Liberation Army later this year on regional security issues and the defence white paper. China has also been asked to send warships to take part in a naval review to mark the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the RAN's first ships in Sydney Harbour on October 4, 1913.
