CANBERRA, Australia — Key U.S. ally Australia slashed Aus$5.5 billion ($5.57 billion) from its defense budget May 8 as part of sweeping cuts by deferring or scrapping jet and weapons deliveries and by sacking 1,000 staff.
Defense saw the largest cuts of any sector in the 2012-13 budget, with $5.5 billion in savings scheduled over the next four years, but the government promised the reductions would have “no adverse impact on operations” overseas.
Australia has some 1,500 troops serving in Afghanistan as well as peacekeeping deployments in East Timor and the Solomon Islands, and it is set to host a new United States military base in the Asia-Pacific.
Read the full story at DefenseNews