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* Australia is investing heavily in new unmanned aerial vehicles and submarine hunters as competition from China heats up, said one analyst.
Beijing's naval modernization and expansion is of growing concern to Australia and its partners in the region, said Dan Darling, an Asia-Pacific military markets expert at Forecast International, a Newtown, Connecticut-based marketing and consulting firm.
"Seeing the increase in China's naval bandwidth [as well as] the growing congestion of submarines in the region in general - that is setting off alarm bells for defense planners," he said.
In late June, Australia announced its decision to award a contract worth over $25 billion to BAE Systems to deliver nine future frigates to the Royal Australian Navy. The award is part of the country's Project SEA 5000 program to modernize the country's maritime platforms, Darling said.
The...