The U.S., U.K., and Australia announced on Tuesday that the three countries will work together on development of hypersonic weapons.
Development will be coordinated under the AUKUS defense pact announced in September 2021, initially intended to aid Australia develop submarines with nuclear-powered propulsion.
The Tuesday announcement comes after reports that the Russian military used hypersonic missiles during its war in Ukraine, and amid concerns over China’s development of such weapons. Hypersonic missiles can fly at over five times the speed of sound.
“In light of Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful invasion of Ukraine, we reiterated our unwavering commitment to an international system that respects human rights, the rule of law, and the peaceful resolution of disputes free from coercion,” President Biden, U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson, and Australia prime minister Scott Morrison said in a joint statement, which was shared by the White House.
“We also 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,” the statement added.
The U.S. conducted a hypersonic-missile test launch in March but did not announce it at the time to avoid ratcheting up tensions with Russia, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Tuesday. While the U.S. has conducted under a dozen test launches, China has conducted hundreds of hypersonic-missile launches, according to the Financial Times.
China has also reportedly tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle that flew through space and circled the globe before landing near its target, according to the FT. China denied that it had tested a weapons system; however, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley later compared the suspected test to a “Sputnik moment” in comments to Bloomberg.