LONDON — The U.K., U.S. and Australia said they are working on developing hypersonic weapons — military technology already deployed by Russia in Ukraine — as part of their new trilateral security pact called AUKUS.
Their plan is to “accelerate development of advanced hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities,” according to a joint statement. The alliance wants to counter the threat of such weapons, which can evade traditional missile defense systems and travel five times faster than the speed of sound, and develop its own as a deterrent, a U.K. official said on condition of anonymity.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed Western governments to reassess their military capabilities. The AUKUS leaders — Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison, U.S. President Joe Biden and British premier Boris Johnson — said in a joint statement Tuesday that they are also deepening defense cooperation on issues such as electronic warfare, where adversaries seek to use the electromagnetic spectrum to gain an advantage on the battlefield.
