The governments of Australia, the UK, and the USA have entered an agreement to collaborate on testing and fielding hypersonic weapons.
The Hypersonic Flight Test and Experimentation (HyFliTE) project falls under the AUKUS defence grouping that comprises the three nations, according to the US Department of Defense.
HyFliTE will see the partners use each other’s testing facilities and share technical information for the development, testing, and evaluation of hypersonic weapons.
The project will see up to six trilateral flight test campaigns by 2028, backed by funding of $252 million.
A priority will be to increase the rate of testing.
“We are increasing our collective ability to develop and deliver offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies through a robust series of trilateral tests and experiments that will accelerate the development of hypersonic concepts and critical enabling technologies,” says Heidi Shyu, US Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
“Collaborative efforts are accelerating the development of underpinning enabling technologies, such as high temperature materials, advanced propulsion systems, and guidance and control. Each of these technologies is integral to the performance of hypersonic weapon systems and provides enhanced operational capability.”
The HyFliTE project falls under AUKUS Pillar II, which covers cooperation in areas such as hypersonic missiles, artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, and quantum computing.
Pillar I is focused on providing a nuclear-powered submarine for the Royal Australian Navy.
Australia and the USA are already collaborating on hypersonic missiles through the SCIFiRE programme, which was formed in 2020 to develop an air-breathing hypersonic weapon.
In addition, Australia aims to deploy an air-launched hypersonic weapon aboard its fleet of Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters, which will continue in Royal Australian Air Force service until 2040.
