WASHINGTON -- The future of the long-standing relationship between the U.S. Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force was further strengthened Sept. 14 in Washington, D.C. with the signing of a Joint Vision Statement by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., and Air Marshal Robert Chipman.
The Joint Vision Statement builds on the U.S. and Australian strategic partnership and conveys the two countries’ intent to work together to direct and support the development and operations of their air forces.
In today’s rapidly evolving, competitive environment, the U.S. and Australia must be ready to meet any challenges that come up, and to do so with friends and international partners around the world.
“Our increasing levels of interoperability are based on a rich history of operating together,” Chipman said. “We will continue to design our forces to survive and succeed by rapidly building the capacity, concepts, and capabilities necessary for tomorrow’s emerging threats, while enhancing combined operations expertise for today’s challenges.”
The objective in the Joint Vision Statement is to generate airpower that supports mutual national security approaches to deter aggression and confront threats to a free, stable, and open international system. This will be accomplished through regional engagement; effective information sharing; shared approaches to security challenges; and credible, sustainable, and interoperable air forces across the Indo-Pacific region.
“The relationship between the U.S. and Australia dates back more than 100 years,” Brown said. “Signing the Joint Vision Statement represents another step in the long-term, enduring commitment we have to the future and to the security of our two countries.”
Supporting this collaboration is the Air Senior National Representative, or ASNR, forum. Established in 2000, and co-chaired by the U.S. Air Force’s vice chief of staff and Australia’s deputy chief of air force, the ASNR forum manages an open, agile, and frank dialog between the two air forces, to support collaboration on an effective mix of warfighting capabilities and concepts.
“ASNR works because our countries share a mutual understanding of the challenges we face in the air domain and the need to address them,” Brown said. “Building on our ability to operate together and collaborate is critical to our warfighting advantage.”
The following principles will be used to guide the bilateral relationship and set the priorities to ensure engagements are targeted and productive: mutual understanding, interoperability by design, purposeful collaboration, organizing for action, urgency, and future alignment.
The ASNR principals will keep both air forces informed of opportunities, risks, and challenges on a regular basis, as they continue to shape, deter, and respond to the changing world.