The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia have announced a new trilateral agreement to accelerate the development of hypersonic technologies within the framework of the AUKUS partnership.
The joint initiative, known as the Hypersonic Flight Test and Experimentation (HyFliTE) Project, will allow the three nations to collaborate on the development, testing, and evaluation of hypersonic systems. These technologies include long-range strike missiles that travel at least five times faster than the speed of sound and can be launched from land, sea, or air.
“This landmark agreement with our US and Australian allies highlights our shared commitment to staying at the forefront of defense technology,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey stated. “By combining our resources and expertise, we are accelerating the development of essential hypersonic capabilities that will keep us ahead of adversaries on the battlefield.”
This collaboration enables the sharing of technical expertise, testing facilities, and resources, allowing for the quicker advancement of hypersonic capabilities than each nation could achieve alone.
“Collaborative efforts are accelerating the development of underpinning enabling technologies, such as high-temperature materials, advanced propulsion systems, and guidance and control,” said Heidi Shyu, US Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
The new arrangement will support ongoing national efforts by incorporating various hypersonic vehicle test flights and other important technology developments. It includes up to six trilateral flight test campaigns planned to take place by 2028, with a total funding pool of $252 million.
The Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF), which supports the arrangement, involves more than 90 suppliers across the AUKUS nations and European allies, with a commercial headroom of up to $1.2 billion.
Australia and the United States are already collaborating on hypersonic capabilities through the bilateral Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment program, or SCIFiRE, launched in November 2020 and aimed at developing a new hypersonic cruise missile.
The AUKUS strategic alliance was created in September 2021 “to deepen cooperation on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities.”