Navy hangs on Red Sea mission call

Defence officials will hold talks with American counterparts this week on a US Navy request for an Australian warship to join a dangerous new Middle East mission.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Carney fires salvos at Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea. Picture: Aaron Lau / US Navy / AFP

Defence officials will hold talks with American counterparts this week on a US Navy request for an Australian warship to join a dangerous new Middle East ­mission.

Australia officials will seek US feedback on how critical Australian involvement is to the expanded Red Sea operation to protect commercial shipping from attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The upcoming talks come amid reservations inside the government over the potential deployment, and a Coalition warning on Sunday that the government “can’t just let this drift”.

Britain and France have both agreed to send warships to support the mission, but Defence Minister Richard Marles has played down the prospect of Australian involvement, saying the navy’s priority focus is on “our immediate region”.

It’s understood Defence is preparing advice for the government on the potential deployment, but federal cabinet’s national security committee does not have a scheduled meeting this week to consider the matter.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney transits the Suez Canal. Picture: AFP

There has been a growing number of missile and drone ­attacks on ships in the Red Sea, including a Norwegian tanker last week, as Houthi fighters step up their harassment of the sea lane in protest against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the government needed to come clean to its closest ally on Australia’s preparedness to join the mission.

“If there is not going to be this support for our strategic ally, the US, then we need to know why not. We can’t just let this drift,” she said. “The Red Sea is an important strategic passage, as are the waters closer to our region.

“This is a request from our closest ally, for something that is critical to world peace and our own geostrategic interests, and AUKUS underscores the strength of that alliance.

“So why have we not heard from the government? Why have we just heard this obfuscation?”

A Yemeni youth waves a Palestinian flag during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza, in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa. Picture: AFP

The commander of the Australian naval fleet, Rear Admiral Christopher Smith, said on Friday the navy was prepared for a government order to deploy.

Speaking at the Garden Island Naval base in Sydney as HMAS Brisbane returned from a regional deployment, Rear Admiral Smith said the navy was “ready to support any requirements that the government will ask of us”.

Australia has limited surface ship availability to meet such a request, with the navy able to muster only three full crews for the ­service’s workhorse Anzac-class frigates.

The ageing frigates are also ­undergunned for such a mission, having insufficient vertical-launch systems to shoot down the ballistic missiles being fired by the Houthis. The navy’s three air warfare destroyers are more capable, thanks to their 48 vertical launch missile cells.

Deploying either class of ship would mean cancelling leave for sailors over the summer break.

US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking told Reuters last week that the US wanted to build the “broadest possible” multi­national coalition to send “an important signal by the international community that Houthi threats to international shipping won’t be tolerated”.

Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said ships involved in the taskforce would “be faced with extraordinary problems”.

Mr Marles last week said Australia was among 39 nations to receive the request from the US-led Combined Maritime Force in Bahrain. “We’ll consider this request in due course, but I would note that the focus of our naval ­efforts now is on our immediate region,” he said.