By BEN PACKHAM
THE Cocos Islands' airfield would require a $75 million-$100 million upgrade before the territory could be used as a base for US drones, says Defence Minister Stephen Smith.
Amid heightened Chinese sensitivities over Australian-US military ties, Mr Smith played down the short-term prospects of using the Cocos Islands - a remote group of coral atolls and islands in the Indian Ocean - as a staging point for US spy flights.
Pentagon planners are considering basing Global Hawk drones and manned surveillance aircraft from the Cocos Islands - about 2750km northwest of Perth - to carry out patrols far out over the northern oceans.
Mr Smith said he and his US counterparts had agreed a “substantial infrastructure upgrade” was required before the Cocos Islands could be considered for use as a joint US-Australian base.
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