Australia outlines defense shopping list for next decade
PLA Daily 2004-02-05
CANBERRA, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Australia on Wednesday outlined an armament shopping list worth 50 billion Australian dollars (38 billion US dollars) for the next ten years.
The purchases involve 64 defense equipment projects in 116 phases under the Defense Capability Plan (DCP) from 2004-2014 launched by Defense Minister Robert Hill.
He said the plan does not specify any military or financial commitment to the missile defense system, known as Son of Star Wars, which Australia announced to join last December, but adding Canberra remains committed to the program.
The shopping items Hill mentioned in a statement include unmanned aerial vehicles, Joint Strike Fighter, new Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, F/A-18 Hornet upgrades, state-of-the-art air warfares destroyers and new tanks.
The new plan does not include "sensitive projects that were also excluded from the previous versions of the DCP," he said.
Stressing on the importance of strengthening defense capabilities both at home and overseas, the minister said "when we send our forces on often dangerous operations Australians have the right to expect that they are properly equipped and prepared -- with the right capabilities to get the job done safely. We owe our troops nothing less."
"It also requires a significant investment in these new technologies. Not to do so will be to be left behind and to put our personnel at risk," he added.
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