The US, Britain, and Australia announced on Tuesday that they will work together to develop hypersonic missiles under the recently created AUKUS military alliance. President Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the plan in a joint statement.
The leaders said 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.”
US military leaders have been calling for more investment in the development of hypersonics and other advanced weaponry, which they see as vital for competing with China and Russia. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said Tuesday that the US Air Force recently successfully tested a hypersonic cruise missile made by Lockheed Martin.
The AUKUS military pact was signed by the three countries last September and is focused on increasing military technology ties to counter Beijing. Under the deal, Australia will get access to technology to build nuclear-powered submarines, which could be used to patrol waters near China.
When asked about the AUKUS hypersonic plan, China’s UN Ambassador Zhang warned that such measures could lead to a crisis similar to what’s happening in Ukraine. “Anyone who do not want to see the Ukrainian crisis should refrain from doing things which may lead the other parts of the world into a crisis like this,” he said.
That’s rich since the US still hasn’t figured out how to reverse engineer one of the earliest models they got from the Yeltsin regime over 30 years ago and miserably failed any attempt to do so.
Russia is now several generations ahead in development in this regard with att least 3 different types of hypersonic’s and they even got the only antidote: the S-500-550. One thing that clearly chocked Nato and the US was the first use of such a weapon in a war theatre in the ukraine:
“The target of the first Kinzhal strike was a “nuclear attack hardened” structure 60 meters underground and protected by reinforced concrete dating from Soviet days. Inside this bunker were Ukrainian missiles, Nato missiles and other munitions of high value. In other words, thanks to the incredible energy of mass and speed, the Kinzhal using what they characterized as one of its weaker potential conventional, as opposed to tactical nuclear charges could destroy a target otherwise considered protected against a nuclear armed ICBM.”
They could not reverse engineer RS-180 first stsge rocket engine needed for Atlas rocket.
And the first hypersonic is to be shio based. Problematic ship. And projected date 2025.
Compared to competition, not serious.
When you have Three Chefs in the kitchen, the food will definitely come out Salty…!
Every article has the same theme. How to be better at killing.
I know, the sooner Putin let the boys come home from Ukraine, the better.
They just keep ratcheting up the tensions.