U.S. Top Guns in Darwin Combat Drills as China Tensions Rise
In Australia’s remote top end U.S. fighter pilots are engaged in combat drills, while Marines sip beers at night in pubs in the tropical city of Darwin. Thousands of kilometers to the north, the U.S. finds itself in increasingly real standoffs with China’s air force.
“The planes are noisy but they’re just a part of life,” said Rachael Molloy, 24, who sells crocodile skin whips at the evening beach markets in Darwin, which plays host to the 22-day exercises where jets roar overhead until late at night. “They’re massive, beautiful planes.”
Pitch Black, held every two years, serves as a reminder of Australian and U.S. military heft as China presses its claims to the South China Sea, where shipping lanes carry more than $5 trillion in goods each year. While the U.S. touts its role in Asia as a counterpoint to China, it is also seeking to minimize the risk from militaries operating in greater proximity, highlighted when a Chinese fighter buzzed within 20 feet of a U.S. surveillance plane in international waters on Aug. 19 and did a barrel roll over it.
More than 4,200 kilometers from the southern Chinese island of Hainan, Australia’s gateway to Asian nations such as Indonesia and Singapore offers the U.S. an advantage: It is distant enough from China to avoid the appearance of a major threat, and close enough to Southeast Asia to offer a bulwark against China’s rise.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-27/u-s-top-guns-in-darwin-dog-fight-drills-as-china-tensions-rise.html
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