US and Australia to increase military cooperation as America vows to never 'leave Australia alone on the pitch'

Australia and the United States have announced plans to increase military cooperation so the nations can be a "Force for stability" in maintaining "a free and open Indo-Pacific region". At a joint press conference after the talks, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the increased military cooperation would result in an "Increased rotational presence of US forces in Australia". In what could be a significant shift in regional relations, Australia and the US also signalled they are looking to increase their military cooperation with Japan. "It is a great outcome of today's meeting that we can go to Japan at the end of this week with an invitation for Japan to be participating in more exercises with Australia and the United States," Mr Marles said. One of the most powerful Republicans in the United States Congress has ruled out the possibility that Australia could buy several US-made submarines. In an interview with US military news website Breaking Defense, he said the US could not afford to interrupt its own submarine production to make way for Australia. "It may be that the US needs to have 51 per cent control and command and Australia has 49 per cent."Listen, in an emergency, it will come back to the United States.