Norther Territory base upgrades will ‘help protect’ US B-52s in a conflict

The US’s top air force commander in the Pacific says upgrades to Australia’s Tindal air base to accommodate B-52 bombers will give American forces the flexibility they need in a future conflict.

A US Air Force B-52 bomber arrives at RAAF Darwin.

The US’s top air force commander in the Pacific says upgrades to Australia’s Tindal air base to accommodate B-52 bombers will give American forces the flexibility they need in a future conflict.

General Kevin Schneider, the Commander of the US’s Pacific Air Forces, said he was pleased with the pace of jointly funded base upgrades at Tindal and Darwin to support joint air operations, including a new runway and ­hangar for US strategic bombers.

He said the remoteness of the Australian bases, which are beyond the range of most Chinese missiles, offered the US the ability to protect its forces should war break out.

“Defence of the force is always something that is top of mind,” General Schneider said at the RAAF-hosted Exercise Pitch Black in the Northern Territory.

“So in all of our planning, all of our considerations for how we would respond, defence of our ­forces and the risk to our forces is something that we continue to consider.”

He said the distance of the bases from potential conflict areas would give US forces the time they needed to move into and out of harm’s way.

US Pacific Air Forces commander General Kevin Schneider.

While Australia’s Top End bases are unprotected by air and missile defence systems, General Schneider hinted the US would step in to protect the facilities with its own defensive batteries in the event of a conflict.

“I think the fact this is a long-standing alliance … and the fact we have been shoulder-to-shoulder in conflict, in combat, numerous times throughout the years, speaks volumes to the commitment we have (shown) and will continue to show,” he said.

The US has invested heavily in infrastructure works at the RAAF’s Darwin and Tindal bases, including new fuel storage facilities, and a new runway and hanger at Tindal.

General Schneider said the US had spent about $625m on the upgrades, in addition to investments by Australia.

He said the US was looking for more opportunities to involve the RAAF in its B-52 training exercises, but noted that the use of Top End bases to operate strategic bombers was not the same as basing the aircraft here.

“The US is not going to operate unilaterally out of Australia,” he said. “We do everything hand in hand.”

General Schneider’s comments came as Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited the demilitarised zone on the South Korean border with North Korea, condemning Pyongyang’s “provocative and reckless conduct” towards its neighbour.

A day earlier, Senator Wong and her US, Japanese and Indian counterparts condemned Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea, including its “dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels”.

“Longstanding rules are being bent and twisted or broken,” she said after a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue meeting.