Australia will maintain its full requirement for F-35 Lightning II fighters even as it confirms a plan to buy Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets that previously looked likely to rob the Lockheed Martin aircraft of funding. The government has unexpectedly--and unusually--stepped in with A$6 billion ($4.6 billion) of supplementary funding for the 24 Super Hornets, which will be bought as temporary replacements for F-111 strike bombers now scheduled for retirement in 2010.

Much of China's latest defense spending surge is likely to head toward pay raises for poorly remunerated soldiers, sailors and airmen. China is also avowedly aiming for higher levels of military technology, and the latest budget doesn't suggest any slowdown in that effort. But it doesn't suggest acceleration, either, because the unusually large 17.8% rise in official defense spending, the largest in a decade, coincides with a big scheduled raise in military salaries.

U.S. defense officials and lawmakers are fervently stressing a desire for far more military-to-military communication with China, as well as greater openness by the Asian giant in light of announced and demonstrated new military capabilities. "In gross numbers, it's impressive," Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, who will take over Pacific Command (PACOM), said of China's plans during his March 8 confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).