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US, UK, Australia vow to cooperate on hypersonic weapons
Britain, the United States and Australia on Tuesday agreed to cooperate on hypersonic weapons and electronic warfare capabilities, under the AUKUS alliance the three countries established last September.
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US President Joe Biden participates is a virtual press conference on national security with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2021. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)
T
he United States, Britain and Australia said Tuesday they would begin collaborating on hypersonic missile strike and defence capacity, as rivals Russia and China advance rapidly in the cutting-edge technology.
The trio said they would work on hypersonics in an expansion of their recent AUKUS defence alliance, which is to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines to counter China's growing military clout.
They pledged "new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities" in a statement by US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Hypersonic missiles can travel more than five times the speed of sound and manoeuvre in mid-flight, making them much harder to track and intercept than traditional projectiles.
They may carry conventional or nuclear warheads.
Hypersonics and related technologies were now "very much a part of what the AUKUS partnership is striving to deliver", Australia's Morrison told reporters on Wednesday, quoted by Reuters.
But there were few details about what the leaders' hypersonic plan entailed.
