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DARWIN, Australia: The US military is building infrastructure in northern Australia to help it project power into the South China Sea if a crisis with China erupts, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with US and Australian defense officials shows.
Closer to the Philippines than to Australia's east coast capital, Canberra, Darwin has long been a garrison town for the Australian Defense Force and a rotating force of US Marines who spend six months there each year.
A few hundred kilometers to the south, RAAF Tindal is home to key elements of Australia's air force and was a temporary base for US jets during recent exercises.
As northern Australia reemerges as a strategic location in the Indo-Pacific amid rising tensions with China, the United States has quietly begun building hundreds of millions of dollars worth of facilities there to support B-52 bombers, F-22 fighter jets, stealth, as well as refueling and transport aircraft, are all part of a broader effort to distribute US forces across the region and reduce their vulnerability.
“If you look at the location of northern Australia, particularly Darwin, in relation to the region … it's always good to have a few options where you want to send your forces in any type of crisis,” Colonel Brian Mulvihill said. , commander of the US Marine Corps Rotational Force.
Tender documents show intelligence offices, upgraded bomber runways, warehouses, data centers and maintenance hangars are in the works. Huge fuel storage facilities have already been built, officials told Reuters during a rare visit to the two northern bases.
The projects, slated for construction in 2024 and 2025, make northern Australia the top foreign location for US Air Force and Navy construction spending, with more than $300 million allocated under US congressional defense authorizations for those years.
With more on the horizon, the U.S. Navy in June sought contractors for projects worth up to $2 billion to build marinas, airstrips, fuel storage facilities and hangars in places including Australia, the Cocos Islands and neighboring Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. Leshti, as part of the program to confront China.
China's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Air Commodore Ron Tilley, director general of capital facilities and infrastructure for the Royal Australian Air Force, confirmed that Washington is paying for facilities in Darwin and Tyndall that will support US operations.
“I don't believe that the United States would spend all this money on our northern bases if there was no agreement where they could use these funds that they are funding during a conflict,” he added.
Canberra has moved closer to its main security ally, Washington, as part of the AUKUS pact to transfer US nuclear submarine technology to Australia over the next decade. However, the US military build-up in the US North has been largely silent.
The Australian government recently unveiled its own plans to spend A$14 billion to “fortify” northern bases as part of the country's biggest defense shake-up since World War II.
Australian and US defense officials interviewed for this story said the new facilities should not be characterized as US bases. Overseas basing is a sensitive domestic political issue for Australia; Other governments, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have said there are no US bases on Australian soil.
“All bases will remain bases in Australia but will be able to be used by our international partners,” Tilley said.

Laying foundations
A 2011 agreement with Australia to temporarily train the US Marine Corps in Darwin has evolved into a regional deterrence role for about 2,000 Marines each year, Mulvihill said. Troops from the Philippines and East Timor participated in the military games this month.
The Marines are adding facilities in Darwin for their MV-22 Osprey aircraft, which can transport troops and equipment.
“Darwin is an absolutely key place for us to help bring stability to the region,” he said in an interview at Darwin Barracks in Laraquea. “We are more focused on interoperability with the Australian Defense Force – how we can project power from northern Australia into the region.”
The United States wants to be able to disperse its forces from its largest bases in the Pacific, such as Guam and Okinawa, to reduce vulnerability.
For Australia, the northern bases offer greater access to the South China Sea, and with Tindal, a secure home base for Australia's F-35A stealth aircraft and its long-range MQ-4C Triton drone. The US F-22 Raptor squadron shared these facilities this month during the Pitch Black exercise.
The Tindal location is “vital”, said Tindal Base Wing Commander Fiona Pearce, “with greater coverage of our immediate region”.
US tender documents and Tindal engineering plans show parking and hangars for six B-52 bombers and refueling planes.
Australia is spending A$1.5 billion ($981.45 million) to renovate Tindal, and by July construction of a new terminal, control tower, hangars and additional staff accommodation was almost complete. Separate American and Australian jet fuel storage facilities sit nearby, while asphalt is dug up to expand the bomber.

“already a target”
A third of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory are Indigenous Australians, although they make up only 10 per cent of Darwin's population.
Traditional owners, as Indigenous Australians are called in Australia who have cultural rights to access land or sea, can visit sacred sites on the bases, US and Australian officials said.
Tibi Kuol, 75, is one of several traditional owners who say growing demand for conservation housing in Darwin has led to deforestation they want to protect, while rising prices have pushed Indigenous families out of the city.
Despite access rights, he says, his family has no real say in how the land is used.
“Defense is about outstanding citizens,” said Quall, a war veteran.
Darwin Mayor Kon Vatkalis says his city, where a Chinese company operates the port, is welcoming economic growth as the defense presence grows, although some residents are concerned the US military deployment could make the city a target.
“The reality is we're already a target: we're the northernmost port in Australia, we're a city that serves the gas and oil industry,” said Vatkalis, who supports military expansion.