US Marine Corps Establishes Permanent Arms Stockpile in Australia

The United States Marine Corps is establishing a permanent, war-ready stockpile of weapons, ammunition, and vehicles at the Bandiana military base in Victoria, Australia. The U.S. Navy has allocated $30 million to construct warehouses and offices for this critical forward provisioning, with full capacity expected by 2028. To comply with Australia's ban on foreign military bases, the U.S. plans to hire approximately 110 contractors to manage the depot.

Initial stockpiles will be held in Melbourne before relocating to the Bandiana base. The southeast location was selected to place equipment beyond the reach of most Chinese missiles and improve military responsiveness across the Indo-Pacific. This development follows a $500 million request from the Pentagon to Congress for Asia-Pacific prepositioning and coincides with plans to deploy nuclear submarines to Western Australia in 2027 under the AUKUS partnership.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles described the growing U.S. footprint as essential for national security and a necessary balance to China's military expansion. The Government of China condemned the cooperation, with the Foreign Ministry accusing the U.S. and Australia of maintaining a Cold War mentality and destabilizing the region.