Spy plane at heart of defense plan
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The Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, which is favoured by the Australian Government.
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SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- A Aust. $1 billion ($760 million) project to launch Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for national surveillance is the centrepiece of a 10-year Australian defense spending plan unveiled Wednesday.
The long-range surveillance aircraft is part of a A$50 billion blueprint for Australian defence that features 64 projects.
But the Australian Defence Capability Plan 2004-2014 does not include any funds for a missile shield that could be built with the United States.
Defense Minister Senator Robert Hill, who unveiled the plan, said he had been pleased by the reaction of regional neighbors to the prospect of building a shield.
They appreciated "what value a defense against ballistic missiles can add to the security of the region".
He said: "We are as committed as ever (to the defense shield) and we hope to have our memorandum completed within the next few months."
Under the plan, spending priorities will be given to new tanks, state-of-the-art destroyers, an upgrade to the F/A-18 Hornet jets, as well as the Joint Strike Fighter and an early-warning and control aircraft.
Australia has yet to decide which model of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle it will purchase, but Hill indicated the U.S.-built Global Hawk was a front-runner.
In 2001, a U.S. Air Force experimental Global Hawk flew 13,000 kilometers (8000 miles) non-stop across the Pacific Ocean from California to Australia.
"We have funding for a squadron of aircraft such as Global Hawk," Hill said.
"If you can put an unmanned vehicle up that can travel for 24 hours over huge distances, you can basically have a continual surveillance capability with a squadron of such aircraft," he said. "That's the direction we're taking."
Hill said there was at least one other alternative to Global Hawk but, looking at its high level surveillance achievements in Iraq and in Afghanistan, Global Hawk would be the lead contender, .
Hill said engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq also showed that the Australian Defense Force (ADF) could not continue to run "a 40-year-old tank like the Leopard that does not give us the edge".
"The new plan recognises that we face the new challenges," he said.
"These include the threat of terrorism, concerns associated with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the risk of failed state within our region.
"The global situation has brought our responsibilities, as an alliance partner of the United States, into sharper focus."
Hill said Australian defense personnel were being despatched to theaters of conflict at "unprecedented levels".
