Australia will invest Aus$7 billion (US$5.2 billion) to develop and buy high-tech US drones for joint military operations and to monitor waters including the South China Sea, it said Tuesday. Canberra has been embarking on its largest peacetime naval investment through a massive shipbuilding strategy that includes new submarines, offshore patrol vessels, and frigates to shore up its defense capabilities. As part of this, the government will spend Aus$1.4 billion to buy the first of six MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance drones, with the aircraft to enter service from mid-2023, complementing seven P-8A Poseidon planes currently in use.

Australia buys high-tech drones to monitor the South China Sea, Pacific. (2018, June 27). Manila Bulletin, p. 7.