MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia and Canada signed a $1.75 billion export agreement on Monday to build an Australian-designed long-range radar system in Canada.<\/p>\n
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles<\/a> and Canadian Secretary of State (Defense Procurement) Stephen Fuhr signed the first phase of a pact to provide early warning radar coverage from the Canada-United States border into the Arctic.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this really means is that Australia and Canada are now partners in terms of the future development of the Over-the-Horizon Radar,\u201d Marles told reporters at the Australian Parliament House in the capital Canberra.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is now a very strategic dimension to the relationship,\u201d Marles added.<\/p>\n Fuhr said the two British Commonwealth countries, both of which are partners in the Five Eyes<\/a> intelligence-sharing alliance that also includes the United States, Britain and New Zealand, had \u201cstood shoulder-to-shoulder for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs the world adjusts to its new strategic and economic realities, I can\u2019t think of a stronger partner to work with more than Australia,\u201d Fuhr said at a joint press conference with Marles.<\/p>\n Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced he\u2019d chosen Australia\u2019s radar system<\/a> over comparable U.S. technology shortly after he came to power last year.<\/p>\n