Secretary of War Hegseth Meets Australia's Marles on ADMM-Plus Margins: Force Posture, AUKUS and Joint Munitions Production
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles on October 27 on the margins of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), where the two discussed strengthening U.S.-Australia defense cooperation and the alliance and agreed to rapidly advance force posture cooperation between the two countries, according to a readout the Department of War issued the same day.
The two agreed to rapidly advance force posture cooperation, including investment in Australian air bases and efforts to enhance combined logistics, the readout said. They also coordinated the two countries' approaches to regional deterrence in order to maintain a favorable balance of power in the Pacific.
On the trilateral partnership, the two leaders discussed advancing the AUKUS security partnership among the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and joint production of critical munitions under the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEO) framework.
Australia is one of America's closest allies in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. forces are expanding rotational deployments through northern Australian bases under the force posture initiatives, while the first pillar of AUKUS centers on providing Australia with conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. Hegseth traveled to the Philippines for this year's ADMM-Plus and held a series of bilateral meetings with defense counterparts, of which the Marles meeting was one.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：战争部长 Pete Hegseth（右）与参谋长联席会议主席 Dan Caine 上将（资料图，2026 年摄于佛罗里达州海湖庄园）。照片：美国官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。/ Photo: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (right) with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine (file photo, Mar-a-Lago, Florida, 2026). U.S. official photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
