CANBERRA, Australia, Aug 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, announced a multi-billion-dollar investment, in new equipment for the nation’s special forces.
Morrison today announced that, three billion Australian dollars (2.03 billion U.S. dollars), will be invested in the special forces over 20 years, in order to better respond to threats, including that of terrorism.
Under the first stage of the plan, 500 million AUD (339.4 million USD) will be invested in special operations capabilities.
“I’ve always said, keeping Australians safe is my government’s number one priority. That’s why we’re ensuring the men and women in our special forces have the equipment and training they need, to succeed in their operations,” Morrison said in a statement.
“Australian special forces undertake complex, highly demanding operations in high threat environments.”
“Global threats will continue to evolve in ways which threaten Australia’s interests. This funding will ensure our special forces have cutting edge capabilities, to stay ahead of those who might threaten our interests.”
The investment in the special forces is part of a planned 200 billion AUD (135.7 billion USD) investment, in Australia’s military capabilities, over the next decade, the largest peacetime investment in defence, in Australian history.
“By 2020-21, we will have restored investment in defence to two percent of GDP,” said the statement.
Linda Reynolds, Australia’s Minister for Defence, said, the funding would be spent on equipment.
The equipment would include the best body armour, weapons, diving, parachuting, roping and climbing systems, and so on.
It will be supplemented by 16 new special operations helicopters, already announced by the Australian Defence Force (ADF), which will be delivered in 2022, according to The Australian report.
She said that it would also be spent on medical search and rescue, communications and “human performance training and support.”
“Our special forces, now more than ever, need to be ready and able to deploy on operations anywhere in the world, at short notice, and in very uncertain conditions,” Reynolds said in a statement.
“This first stage of funding enables our special forces to engage with intelligence, science and technology, and innovation organisations, to ensure future threats and opportunities are assessed, to make sure we are delivering them the capability they need in the future.”– NNN-AGENCIES
