60 Minutes

Weapons for Peace

It might sound like twisted logic, but military forces everywhere argue that the greater the firepower they possess, the greater the chance of maintaining peace. In other words, massive weaponry is the best deterrent to war. Right now the theory is being tested like never before, and much of it is happening in Australia's backyard, the Indo-Pacific region. The United States wants the world, and more particularly China, to know of its increasing presence there, and to do that it's putting on a spectacular show. Reporting from the hotly contested South China Sea, Amelia Adams reveals the U.S. military in full-flight is an extraordinary sight to behold.

What the Five Eyes See

Showing off deadly weaponry in massive war games is a tactic China and the United States both use to try to avoid full-on combat. But the truth is the two countries, as well as other nations including Australia, are already battling it out in an invisible war. There are no frontline soldiers but there are significant skirmishes. Until now these conflicts have been kept quiet, but key members of a secretive alliance of top cops from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand are about to change that. In exclusive interviews with Nick McKenzie, the group known as the "Five Eyes" disclose startling information about the trouble they're seeing.