Preparing for China: Military firepower on show in the Pacific | 60 Minutes Australia

Where do you think the next big threat to world peace will come from, perhaps from Iran or Iraq, perhaps from a cave somewhere in the Afghan mountains? Well, there are some who believe that China, the world bloc's newest superpower, is the country to watch and if they do, You're right, Australia better be prepared. I just spent some time with our Navy watching as they played war games with the Americans and 12 other nervous Pacific nations, believe me there was some furious

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on display engine forward 15 knots engine forward 15 knots provide 13 rounds local, the best computer game G1 G2 close up clearance provide 100 rounds to the reality is that we are training for conflict it is an imposing spectacle the giant Navy of the most powerful warships that have ever sailed in a train Fleet TT red 9 PT red of elevation 90 which indicates that these are war games on an overwhelming scale and when you're in the thick of it seven it sure feels like the real thing nine is always the real thing we're dealing with, with live ammunition we're dealing with high explosive, so there is no exercise or practice, it is dangerous all the time 30 laps everything Qui M 31 shoots welcome to rhyman, short for the Pacific Rim, come on, we are 150 km from Hawaii in the largest naval exercise in the world, everyone here it is united against an imaginary rebel superpower yes, I think there are aspects of this exercise that are as close to the real deal as possible for our coverage of hostile runway 3411 with M 31 at this moment the crew of the Australian ship Newcastle has an enemy The objective in his sights.

I'll have you impersonate the commander Justin Jones is taking the shot at in this war, it may be a fantasy, but there's nothing fake about the gun he's about to fire. It is the deadliest missile ever loaded on an Australian. ship, so some details are still classified as top suit, we're probably shooting at more than three times the range we're used to, so this is a big step forward, yes it is, yes, yes. I think sometimes you thrive in the environment that you are. in the operations room because it's a war environment and that's what we go out to see to do 5 On target with a range of 270 109 the finger hovering over the launch button on that rocket-propelled missile belongs to Zoe Mack from Sydney ass signature gun fc5 she is a 24 year old lead sailor who has been training for this moment for years radar Target with scope 272 scope 109 the first Australian to fire the next generation supersonic warhead comes out to see a fight and win and then the environment is ready upstairs there is adrenaline pumping, everything is intensified and especially your senses when you fire a missile and with the push of a button, yes, the command approved Monte 31, activate the Monte 31 shot, it was that intense and simply amazing experience, the most incredible you have probably ever experienced.

My life is that the first time you find the missiles right, yes, I've been waiting to do it since I joined and with that press of a button, Zoe just took out an invisible enemy plane, Far beyond the horizon, minute 3 0. left boundary 185 no one says who the enemy is supposed to be, but here's a clue 1700 copy the only major Pacific country not participating in this gigantic exercise is China, the world's newest superpower is threatening the dominance of the United States in our region for the first time in 60 years and that's making everyone a little nervous as Asia changes, all bets are off.

China has very markedly increased its ability to sink US ships and if we see the US and China facing off in Asia then the fact that China has a lot more power than it used to could make a real difference for Australia and we could be drawn into the former government defense advisor. Professor Hugh White points out that while the world has been focused on terrorism, China has been quietly building its In the maritime domain, it has been very common among Americans to say that the greatest threat to the United States' place in the world is poses a guy in a cave, while I would say that the biggest challenge to the United States' place in the world has been posed by the fact that the most populous country in the world has been growing at 7,8,9% annually year after year and a country that is not content to accept American leadership indefinitely.

God forbid if we ever go to war with an Asian neighbor, but would it be fought on land? or at sea, there would be fighting at sea to counter that threat. Our government is spending $10 billion to upgrade our naval force and much of what we have, as well as much of what we want, is on display here off Hawaii. This is the kind of We bought a warship and not just one but two of them. It is a stunning view out of the sea. She looks a lot like an aircraft carrier but is called a helicopter landing dog and the Australian versions of these now being built will be the largest ships ever sailed by the Australian Navy.

Our ships will be almost identical to the impressive USS Bonom Rashad. Simply compare these new warships to the Navy's current Storo Hmasa and they will even eclipse our old aircraft carrier, the Melbour, at 30,000 tons. You can land 22. helicopters on the deck and in the belly of the Beast, a huge transport and troop camp, when that rear deck lowers, up to a thousand soldiers can be deployed on the coast, although they are not aircraft carriers in the purest sense, in fact they are aircraft carriers and It will be a radical change in our capability, it gives us a large presence in our region, it does, and a lot of flexibility, although also on board the USS bonam Rashad you have an even better idea of ​​what these huge warships they can do. do it, we're standing in line right now, we're at 1500 and we're SE, the Americans are letting us take it for a test drive.

An Australian naval commander is in charge on the bridge, while below are 130 Townsville Bay soldiers from 2R. I'm about to be

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n what it's like to be involved in a full ground assault. The idea is to get these troops to hot spots quickly, but how these chunks of steel float, much less make their way to shore, is beyond me. Well, we. We've hit the ocean at full speed, this is an incredible ride, believe me, it's incredibly tight here and incredibly hot and as you can see it's very, very noisy, but it's a critical workout. Hitting a wave there is critical training for our soldiers because that's how the Army and Navy are

preparing

to fight future conflicts again.

The exercise is designed to simulate real combat. The mission of Major MC Bu Canan and his men is to assault an enemy fortress on the coast, with live ammunition. An amphibious attack like this generates a fast powerful attack and a quick retreat for that same trip back to the ship, where can you see this in use in Australia? Where would be better, Ed, but is it a totally flexible team? get well, take guards, a

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with humanitarian aid that can carry, you know it's a large vehicle, it could uh. Spring place, type of continence that we face, can be used to get our boys where we need them at the right time, any beach, anywhere, yes.

Definitely definitely a tough ride I think I held it down Yeah, good job, good idea, the Navy reckons it's not just for times of conflict, the truth is these new ships and all this experience will probably be used in the event of a natural disaster. Invaluable human resource, says Professor Hugh White, make no mistake, the real reason the Navy is spending big naps is to counter Chinese construction. The Navy is very happy to explain why it wants these big ships in terms of stabilization operations and disaster relief, but you wouldn't buy these ships for that, any more than you would buy a semi-truck to take your child to preschool.

You can take your child to preschool and a semi, but you wouldn't buy a semi to do it. Without a doubt, China is building. It is its Defense Force and its Navy. I don't know if you necessarily have to draw the long arc between our capability improvements in the Australian Navy and China. You could easily look at the Korean Peninsula right now and raise an eyebrow. provide 100 rounds 2 apit al m whatever the threat, there is no doubt that power in the Pacific is changing testing Australia's loyalties G1 closed clear B clear 100 rounds 2 AP V al m dropping gun fc5 that's why why Zoey Max has to be command sharp approved M 31 participate 31 shoot a million dollars every time she won't have many opportunities to practice shooting these M 31 missiles she kept two that's why these war games have been so important for Australia and so downright stressful for Zoe and my heart was racing.

At first I thought she was going to throw up and then when I shot it, it was all we had been practicing, we were practicing, but it's that intense, there's so much pressure that you felt. I'm going to be sick I can't even make it up that was that intense but I'm sure I made mom very proud I bet you did too yeah what did it look like a wing it was a wing of a Damn plane, is this the breakthrough that solved the biggest mystery of the 21st century the world has been waiting for? Woven reality that the entire airline line just disappeared, new home after a decade of despair.

I don't know if I can wait another 10 years in the search for MH370, where the right place is, if we had known we would have looked there. that's next on 60 Minutes