US counterparts said the exercise has helped implement strategies against a fictional enemy.
Australian 13th Brigade Commander Brett Chaloner said they had challenges maneuvering vehicles, but “ultimately the marines did prevail” with the support of B-2 bombers.
“The reality was our soldiers got a great training opportunity.”
Brigadier Chaloner also said the exercise helped prepare the troops in battle, especially since he sees a more significant “defense push into the North-west over the next few years.”
Still, Dr. Gordon Flake said many should just see the training as it is, a “normal process of readiness exercise for a long-standing marine rotational force.”
“I would be hesitant to kind of suggest that there’s a particular escalation that people ought to be paying attention to today in the Indian Ocean that merited something in the Kimberley.”
B-2 Bombers Signify a Clear Warning in APAC?
Though Australia has been subtle in integrating B-2 bombers, Curtin University national security expert, Dr. Alexey Muraviev said the satellite images had been a warning to China.
20% of the B-2 Spirit fleet on deck at RAAF Amberley a couple days ago. pic.twitter.com/pmV5KSKl0i
— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) August 1, 2022
“The deployment of some four B-2s, according to open-source reports, to Australia is something that obviously the Chinese will be anxiously following,” Dr. Muraviev said.
“You don’t send your advanced, stealthy aircraft … into an unknown area; it can only operate outside of the United States [or] in the territory … which is closely aligned with you.”
“We’re not gearing ourselves for an open confrontation with China, but we try to send them a really powerful signal that there are some red lines that exist.”
In addition, Lt. Col. Andrew Kousgaard, Commander of 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, said the training is to defend “against that tyranny of distance” and make sure Australia’s ready for any type of attack.
These concerns are definitely not unwarranted, as China’s been seen shooting ballistic missiles during their live-fire drills around the coast of Taiwan last week.
Still, Dr. Flake is open about the non-possibility of anything happening between Australia and China.
“I would be hesitant to kind of suggest that there’s a particular escalation that people ought to be paying attention to today in the Indian Ocean that merited something in the Kimberley.”
“Certainly these [exercises] are again, once more about war-fighting exercises for readiness purposes and long-term signalling,” he said.
“But as of yet, there is not a primary concern about fundamentally new or different Chinese capabilities or actions or claims in the Indian Ocean.”
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