Australia, UK, US Alliance to Develop Hypersonic Missiles

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a National Security Initiative virtually with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, inside the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 15, 2021. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a National Security Initiative virtually with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, inside the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 15, 2021. (Reuters)
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Australia, UK, US Alliance to Develop Hypersonic Missiles

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a National Security Initiative virtually with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, inside the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 15, 2021. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a National Security Initiative virtually with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, inside the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, September 15, 2021. (Reuters)

The United States, United Kingdom and Australia announced Tuesday they will work together via the recently created security alliance known as AUKUS to develop hypersonic missiles.

The move comes amid growing concern by the US and allies about China’s growing military assertiveness in the Pacific. US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the plan after holding a check-in on the progress of AUKUS, the Indo-Pacific alliance that was launched by the three countries in September.

The leaders said in a joint statement 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.”

The US, Russia and China have all looked to further develop hypersonic missiles — a system so fast that it cannot be intercepted by any current missile defense system.

In October, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that China had conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon system as part of its aggressive effort to advance in space and military technologies.

Milley described the Chinese test as a "very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system, and it is very concerning,” in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Russia has used hypersonic missiles “multiple” times in Ukraine, according to the top US commander in Europe.

Last fall, as US intelligence officials had become increasingly concerned about the massing of Russian forces on the Ukraine border, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the country’s arms manufacturers to develop even more advanced hypersonic missiles to maintain the country’s edge in military technologies.

The Russian military has said that its Avangard system is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound and making sharp maneuvers on its way to a target to dodge the enemy’s missile shield. It has been fitted to the existing Soviet-built intercontinental ballistic missiles instead of older type warheads, and the first unit armed with the Avangard entered duty in December 2019.

The Kinzhal, carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound, according to Russian officials.

The Pentagon’s 2023 budget request already includes $4.7 billion for research and development of hypersonic weapons. It includes planning that would have a hypersonic missile battery fielded by next year, a sea-based missile by 2025 and an air-based cruise missile by 2027.

Biden, Johnson and Morrison have billed the creation of AUKUS as a chance to build greater sharing of defense capabilities. As their first major action, the alliance said it would help equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

Morrison said the development of hypersonic missiles fit with Australia’s strategic plan released two years ago to enhance its military’s long-range strike capabilities.

“The paramount goal is to ensure we get that capability as soon as we can and it’s in the best form that can be working with our partners,” Morrison told reporters.

Australia’s Defense Minister Peter Dutton had earlier announced plans to spend $2.6 billion to acquire long-range strike missiles for fighter jets and warships years ahead of schedule because of growing threats posed by Russia and China.

A draft security pact between the Solomon Islands and China has prompted concerns about a possible Chinese naval presence 1,200 miles off the northeast Australian coast. The Solomon Islands government said it won’t allow China to build a military base there and China has denied seeking a military foothold in the islands.



China Holds ‘Shooting’ Drills off Taiwan’s Coast, Vows ‘Reunification’ Push 

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
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China Holds ‘Shooting’ Drills off Taiwan’s Coast, Vows ‘Reunification’ Push 

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)

China's military held "shooting training" on Wednesday off Taiwan's southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing's control.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activities, including several rounds of full-scale war games during the past three years.

Shortly before 9 a.m. (0100GMT), Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement, it had detected 32 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a "joint combat readiness drill" with Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait area.

"During this period it even blatantly violated international practice by setting up a drills area in waters about 40 nautical miles (74 km) off the coast ... without prior warning, claiming that it would carry out 'shooting training'," the ministry added.

Taiwan's major southwestern population centers of Kaohsiung and Pingtung are both home to important naval and air bases. Kaohsiung is also home to Taiwan's largest port, a busy hub for global shipping.

The exercises endanger the safety of international flights and shipping and are a "blatant provocation" to regional peace and stability, the ministry said, adding that it had dispatched its own forces to keep watch.

There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills around Taiwan and its defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's other recent military activity in the region, such as that off Australia's coast, are "proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific," Taiwan's ministry said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule, and has denounced both President Lai Ching-te, who took office last year, as a "separatist", and the United States for its support for Taiwan.

Earlier on Wednesday, China's official Xinhua news agency said the ruling Communist Party's fourth ranked leader, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese "reunification".

China must "firmly grasp the right to dominate and take the initiative in cross-strait relations, and unswervingly push forward the cause of reunification of the motherland", it quoted Wang as telling an annual meeting on work related to Taiwan.

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.

SEVERED UNDERSEA CABLES

Taiwan and China have traded barbs also traded barbs this week over the severing of an undersea communications cable off the island's southwest coast.

Taiwan on Tuesday detained a Chinese-linked cargo ship, flagged in Togo, suspected of involvement, though China's government said Taiwan was "manipulating" possible Chinese involvement, saying the island was casting aspersions before the facts were clear.

Before being detained by Taiwan's coast guard, the Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58 was already on a monitoring list of 52 China-linked vessels that Taiwan security agencies suspect pose a threat to cables because of their past activities near Taiwan, two Taiwan officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.

This is the fifth case of sea cable malfunctions this year for Taiwan. It reported three such cases in 2024 and 2023.

Taiwan has pointed to similarities between what it has experienced and damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.