SYDNEY: The US military is planning a permanent war-ready weapons stockpile for its Marine Corps on Australia’s southeast coast beyond the range of most Chinese missiles, tender documents show and officials confirmed to AFP.

The development of the stockpile, a first for the Marine Corps in Australia, comes as the United States is keen to leverage the continent’s strategic location in the South Pacific to counter China’s rapid military build-up, analysts said.

The US Marine Corps began global prepositioning of military supplies during the Cold War — using floating stores on ships and caves in Norway where weapons, ammunition and vehicles to sustain thousands of troops are kept.

The first land stockpile in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to open this year in the Philippines, close to potential flashpoints in the South China Sea.

Facility to support operations, exercises across Asia-Pacific

Documents published by the US Navy this month show advanced planning for an even larger Australian stockpile, with $30 million allocated to build warehouses and offices in southeastern Victoria state for “critical forward provisioning”.

The Australian stockpile, expected to reach full capacity by 2028, will be kept in Melbourne before being moved to US warehouses to be constructed next year at an Australian military base at Bandiana in rural Victoria, tender documents show.

Australia does not permit foreign military bases on its soil, a sensitive issue in a country that has a security alliance with the United States and is hosting an increasing variety of US forces on rotation at Australian defence bases.

The US Navy is engaging a global defence contractor to employ around 110 engineers, mechanics, material and safety specialists to manage the Australian stockpile.Marine Corps activities in Australia support integrated global sustainment by maintaining ready-for-issue equipment and supplies for operations.

Beyond China’s missiles?

The Pentagon has asked Congress for $500 million next year to improve prepositioning of equipment and fuel across the Asia-Pacific to deter China.

Around 2,000 US Marines conduct exercises for six months of the year on the opposite coast of Australia in the northern city of Darwin.

A report from the Lowy Institute think tank this week warned that China has the capability to strike northern Australia with ballistic missiles deployed from its South China Sea outposts.

Its director of international security, Sam Rogg­eveen, told AFP that was likely a “relevant consideration” in placing a stockpile in Australia’s southeast. “Once these facilities are operational, they would be obvious targets for China,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2026