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American troops will train with new U.S. military equipment in Australia under a pact being negotiated by Washington and Canberra, a prominent defense analyst said Friday. Ross Babbage, head of the Australian National University's Strategic Defense Studies Center, told New Ltd. newspapers that the agreement would include testing smart bombs and communications equipment. Australian and U.S. troops also would train together in new warfare tactics, Babbage told Sky News on Friday. 'What effectively it will mean is we will have the most advanced capacity to test new ways of conducting military operations and potentially will have, even more than we now do, the very best defense force,' he told Sky News. Defense Minister Robert Hill did not immediately comment on Babbage's statements. Babbage said the renewed evidence of close military links between Australia and its close ally, the United States, should not alarm neighbors in Southeast Asia. He said that in the region 'there's a general understanding and in fact deep respect for Australia's very substantial military capability, as shown most dramatically ... for many in the region in East Timor (news - web sites).' Australian forces led an international troop contingent that restored order to the former Indonesian province of East Timor after pro-Jakarta militias rampaged there following a U.N.-sponsored vote for independence in 1999. Washington and Canberra have pledged to cooperate more closely in military training in an agreement that includes Australia hosting more U.S. troop maneuvers.
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