With the fear of the Chinese rising influence in the region, the United States commissioned a warship in Sydney, Australia.
The USS Canberra, an Independence-class littoral combat ship (LCS), was officially inducted into the US Navy’s active fleet on Saturday during a ceremony at an Australian naval base in Sydney Harbor.
As the two close allies strengthen their military ties in response to China’s expanding regional reach, this marks the first occasion that a US Navy vessel has entered active service at a foreign port.
During the ceremony, Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia, asserted that Americans and Australians have maintained a century-long military alliance in an effort to uphold the West’s hegemony over the world.
Additionally, the US Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, who was present at the ceremony, stated that the allies must address new challenges the US-led West is facing in a number of different domains.
In every environment we operate in, from the seafloor to the stars and the cyber domain, we, along with our allies and partners around the world, are facing significant challenges. The rules-based international order, which has long supported economic growth and supported the time of comparatively stable global affairs, is clearly under attack once more, according to Del Toro.
The ceremony coincides with the biannual Talisman Sabre military drills between the US and Australia, which are viewed as a show of force against China.
Richard Marles, the defense minister for Australia, responded, “I’m not,” when asked if he was concerned about the presence of a Chinese surveillance ship off the country’s northeastern coast.”
He told Channel 9 television, “I’ve been to Talisman Sabre now for many years and there seems to be a ship from China looking at this, and that’s fine.
One of the largest joint military exercises in the world, the US-Australia military drill is held every two years amid rising tensions between major powers and ongoing US efforts to persuade new nations to join the Indo-Pacific AUKUS security pact.
The two-week exercises, which include amphibious landings and mock land and air combat, are reportedly being participated in by the UK, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Japan, and South Korea.
The Independence-variant LCS warships are described as quick, optimally manned, mission-tailored surface combatants that can operate both near land and in the open ocean.
