<\/p>\n
The Submarine Rotation Force West (SRF-West) will see at least one UK and up to four US conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines rotate through the base until 2032<\/a>.<\/p>\n But there are fears allied nuclear-powered and armed subs could be based at HMAS Stirling well beyond 2032 \u2013 making it a legitimate nuclear target.<\/p>\n \u2018A warning signal\u2019<\/p>\n Self-described \u201ctransparency warrior\u201d and former federal South Australian Senator Rex Patrick said it was clear there is something more happening in WA than the government is letting on.<\/p>\n And Mr Patrick, a former Royal Australian Navy submariner, said this could make HMAS Stirling a prime target for Chinese or Russian nuclear missiles if war were to break out.<\/p>\n The base is located on Garden Island, off PErth\u2019s southern suburbs.<\/p>\n He said there have already been articles in China calling on Australia to be used as a \u201cwarning signal\u201d to the US.<\/p>\n \u201cRather than firing a nuclear weapon in a time of conflict at the United States, which could result in a cross exchange, firing a nuclear weapon at a third country like Australia doesn\u2019t potentially cause that cross exchange, but could act as a signal to the United States to back off,\u201d Mr Patrick said, adding Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles can now reach Australian territory.<\/p>\n He said if this happened, \u201ctens of thousands\u201d of people would die in the immediate vicinity of the blast, while hundreds of thousands more would die from radiation poisoning over the coming days and months.<\/p>\n He added that Canberra was not prepared for such a scenario.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve actually done some inquiries into how Australia continues operations under extreme events like a nuclear attack, continuity of government. They\u2019ve been relatively secretive about that, but we\u2019ve seen in responses to things like bushfires right across eastern Australia where Australia has struggled and bushfires across Australia are far less consequential than something like a nuclear attack,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He called on Canberra to reveal more about what\u2019s happening at HMAS Stirling.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Australian government needs to be engaging the Australian people. Rather than have us being the citizens and journalists scratching around for information, the government has a duty to explain exactly what\u2019s going on. And unfortunately they haven\u2019t been doing that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The US Department of Defence has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n America\u2019s huge Aussie move<\/p>\n Leland Bettis from the Pacific Centre for Island Security (PCIS), a research institute based in Guam<\/a>, suggested the US navy had rapidly scaled up its infrastructure at Stirling and dramatically slashed funding for a naval base upgrade in Guam \u2013 moves he said signalled the US was quietly making the WA base its own.<\/p>\n \u201cFunding was supposed to happen by the fiscal year of 2026, but when we look at the budget, the (US) Department of Defence looks like they\u2019ve done a scaled back proposal and yet none of those funds passed. Almost $US1 billion ($1.41 billion) in proposed funding hadn\u2019t passed in the 2026 fiscal US budget. Zero,\u201d he told news.com.au.<\/p>\n He said HMAS Stirling was an ideal location for allied nuclear-powered submarines because it was outside the \u201cweapons engagement zone\u201d of a potential conflict between China and Taiwan. <\/p>\n It is also getting a floating dry dock <\/a>capable of supporting US Virginia-class subs from the early 2030s.<\/p>\n The US navy has also built a Naval Support Activity that will provide support services and programs for US service members, civilian personnel, contractors and their families assigned to SRF-West \u2013 a development Mr Bettis said was \u201csignificant\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cA Naval Support Activity is really just a shore-based US navy installation. Its main job is to manage a base and provide logistics, security, administration and all other kinds of services so the crew that\u2019s at sea can focus on their mission \u2026 That\u2019s effectively running a base operation.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Bettis also poured cold water on the claim HMAS Stirling was being used only for temporary US and UK rotations.<\/p>\n \u201cOne man\u2019s rotation force is [another] man\u2019s base,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the decade of the marine rotation force in Darwin, I think you get a sense of where this heads.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it\u2019s likely US Virginia-class submarines will operate out of HMAS Stirling regularly in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will continue to come in and out of Guam, as long as they can get munitions and things like that out of Guam, but you\u2019re not going to put all your eggs into the Guam basket when it\u2019s easy pickings in the event of a conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n Scale down<\/p>\n US budget documents and a pre-scoping report seen by news.com.au shows the extent of the scale back at Guam Naval Base.<\/p>\n A 2023 pre-scoping report by the US\u2019 Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific shows plans to build a new concrete single deck submarine repair pier that would provide berthing for four SSN-774 Virginia Class submarines and one submarine restocking vehicle, known as a tender. <\/p>\n The project, named P-676, was slated to cost between $US1-3 billion ($1.41-$4.45 billion) with funding beginning in the first quarter of the US 2026 financial year.<\/p>\n However, a 2026 budget report by the US Senate Committee on Armed Services showed not a single dollar was issued in funding for the project. By the 2027 budget review, the US Department of Defence (DOD) requested a scaled-down $US587 million ($830 million) to upgrade electrical capacity and other minor upgrades at its Guam naval base. <\/p>\n The 2027 budget has yet to be approved by the US House and Senate. Documents appear to show committees in both houses so far refusing a large chunk of the DoD\u2019s funding request for upgrades to Polaris Point pier at the Guam base.<\/p>\n \u201cMy sense is members of Congress are not convinced putting these developments in Guam is really the best bang for the buck,\u201d Mr Bettis said.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of that has got to be related to the AUKUS discussions and the development at HMAS Stirling. Some of those developments fix into the notion of the Trump administration\u2019s burden-sharing request and I think that does get some traction in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Patrick also claimed the number of US personnel being sent over would balloon from 1200 to 2300 by 2030.<\/p>\n