AUKUS to jointly enter hypersonic missiles race, counter China

AUKUS, a young alliance formed between the United States, Australia and United Kingdom, is all set to give the hypersonic missile arms race a new turn. The alliance will be working together to develop the weapon.

AUKUS, similar to the QUAD, is an alliance that was created to maintain the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region and counter China’s growing assertiveness.

The new weapons development plan was jointly announced after the leaders of three countries — Joe Biden, Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison– had a telephonic conversation, according to reports from Associated Press.

The leaders said in a joint statement they are “committed today to commence new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as to expand information sharing and to deepen cooperation on defense innovation.”

Outside the AUKUS, the United States and Australia have already collaborated on a hypersonic weapons programme called “Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment” or simply “SCIFiRE”. The United Kingdom said it would not be aligning itself to the pre-existing programme.

The United States, Russia and China have all looked to further develop hypersonic missiles — a system so fast that it cannot be intercepted by any current missile defense system, according to reports from Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the hypersonic missile race was also brought up in a legislative meeting in the United States House of Representatives, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Florida lawmaker Matt Gaetz got into a heated debate on the matter. The Florida Congressman asked why America had fallen behind China, to which Sec. Def. Austin counter-questioned: “What do you mean? We’re behind in hypersonics? How do you make that assessment?.”

The Pentagon’s 2023 budget request already includes $4.7 billion for research and development of hypersonic weapons, according to reports from Associated Press.