Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison flew to the remote Pine Gap-based US spy base for a classified briefing by US and Australian intelligence officials.
The Prime Minister announced this morning that a $1 billion upgrade to the Tindal RAAF Air Force Base would be used for the USAF and the RAF`s outposts in the Indo-Pacific region.
The statement, signed last week by the cabinet`s national security council, marks an expansion of the air force`s capabilities in the region and an alliance stance in australia and the united states as china continues to expand its strategic footprint into the region.
The highly classified base, operated by australian agencies and u.s. agencies including central intelligence and national security, is the main hub for global intelligence interception and satellite surveillance of the region`s military and nuclear missiles, threat.
The controversial facility, south-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, is considered an important asset to Australia`s national security system and a control center for US satellite surveillance in China, Russia and the Middle East.
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