US military presence in Australia, mapped – video

The US military has a significant presence in Australia, with control or access to over 100 defence facilities across the continent. According to research by the Nautilus Institute, the US military controls 17 facilities on mainland Australia and has access to 75 more Australian-run military installations. Additionally, US defence corporations have access to 18 facilities.

The US military presence in Australia includes a range of activities, such as gathering intelligence, accessing satellite data, and communications intercepts. The US also uses Australia as a training ground, with 2,500 marines rotating through the Northern Territory during the dry season. Furthermore, the US has pre-positioned warfighting assets, such as Osprey aircraft, and logistics hubs holding weapons, munitions, and fuel in case of a war in the Pacific.

The extent of the US military presence in Australia has been described by some analysts as a "colonisation" or "saturation" of the Australian continent. A highly secretive joint Australian-US satellite communications and signals intelligence surveillance base, known as Pine Gap, was established by the CIA in 1966 and is located in the Northern Territory. A map of the US and Australian military bases across the country is available.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Guardian Australia, The Guardian — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.