this morning secretary austin welcomed the australian minister for defense, peeter dutton here to the pentagon. we're proud to stand alongside our australian allies for our shared interests in the endo pacific region. it's an unbreakable alliance. we're cooperating on strategic capabilities, regional engagement and military operations. ultimately we're cooperating all fronts. tomorrow secretary austin and minister dutton will join secretary state blinken and the minister of australia of foreign affairs maurice payne for two plus two meeting at the state department. also, this week, the navy completed a new milestone. the first aerial refuelling of an f-35 lightning craft but an unmanned platform on monday. the milestone is significant because unmanned tanking capabilities will free up the navy's strike fighters that are carrying out the tanking commission delivering greater range and endurance for the air wing to execute missions. once operational, mq-25s will receive every receiver carrier-based aircraft. more on schedule, the secretary of the navy and chief of naval operations are m

questions was only 2 ra, primarily directed to the secretaries, but no doubt, ministers painted. dutton may choose to respond following on from yesterday's remarkable orcas submarine decision. and it goes to the principle of reciprocity. so a strategy or is going to get america's most valuable nuclear technology secrets to undertake this nuclear powered submarine endeavor? is it accepted broadly that with that comes now a requirement for astray, you to reciprocate with things that it has previously been reluctant to do? 2 possible examples that i'd be thinking of de facto hun porting wants. a strategy builds up nuclear infrastructure in places like h m, eyes, sterling on the west coast, for instance, intermediate range miss solves, hosted on a stray and soil considered before and rejected before. and then the 2nd question just to follow up and sketch out further. the enhanced force posture initiatives that have been endorsed today. minister dutton, you've given us a very broad outline, all categories of a craft plus the logistics and the maintenance. could you expand any further, but wi

so thank you so much again from mr. pain, defense minister dutton for traveling here to washington. we're looking forward to returning the favor. i'm traveling to australia as soon as we can and welcoming prime minister morrison here next week. when you meet with president biden and leaders of japan in india for the quad security dialect with that. are mr. pay. thank you very much, a secretary blinking and to show you blink and end. stick with your austin. thank you, bye for hosting the 31st or mean consultations. may i also thank those many officials who have been toiling behind the scenes for some time now to prepare for a meeting of this consequence. it is a great pleasure to be here in washington with our friends and colleagues to engage in the mean talks and possible without the work of officials that goes into it. 2 weeks ago, the sales of the iconic sydney opera house were lit up with the stars and stripes, the flag of the united states marking 70 years since the signing of the ends is tracy. and for those 70 is our lives has helped to safeguard out people and to enhance the

this morning secretary austin welcomed the australian minister for defense, peter dutton here to the pentagon. we're proud to stand alongside our allies to strengthen deterrence and defend our shared values and interests in the indo-pacific region. the u.s./australia relationship is what we're proud to call the unbreakable alliance. our increasing conversions and alignment on most important strategic rashes atest to the endure value and cooperating closely on strategic capabilities, regional engagement and of course military operations. and ultimately we're cooperating on all that strengthens our ability to deter threats. tomorrow secretary austin and minister dutton will join secretary of state blinken and the minister -- australian minister maurice payne for two plus two meetings over there at foggy bottom at the state department. the first aerial refulting of a lightning 2 aircraft on monday. the milestone is significant because unmanned tanking capabilities will free up the navy's strike fighters that are currently carrying out the tanking mission delivering greater range and end

this is australia defense 's minister peter dutton speaking last week. >> significantly enhancing ourn, increasing interoperability, deepening alliance activities in the indo pacific. this will include greater air corporation rotational deployments of all types of u.s. military aircraft to australia. amy: during the same news conference, u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin focused part of his remarks on china. >> we spoke in detail about china's destabilizing activities and beijing's efforts to coerce and intimidate other countries. contrary to established rules and norms. and while we seek a constructive result-oriented relationship with the prc, we will remain clear eyed in our view of beijing's efforts to undermine the established international order. amy: china has denounced the new u.s.-australia-britain alliance saying the countries are "severely damaging regional peace and stability, intensifying an arms race, and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts." for more, we go to open, california, to speak to david vine, a professor of anthropology at american univer