The AUKUS Alliance consisting of Australia, UK and US recently agreed to cooperate on hypersonic weapons and electronic warfare capabilities. The deal was confirmed by the office of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday (5/4).
"We are also committed today to starting a new trilateral cooperation on hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities, and electronic warfare," the AUKUS leaders said in a joint statement.
The leaders, namely British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, also said they were pleased with the progress of Australia's conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine program.
Regarding the hypersonic weapons program, the US and Australia actually have a joint program called SCIFiRE, or Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment.
Despite not joining the programme, the UK has ensured that the three countries will cooperate in research and development in the region to expand their programme.
The US is currently investing in research and development of hypersonic missiles as Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February has raised concerns about European security.
In their joint statement, the AUKUS leaders cited Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a reason for them to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the international system. They also reaffirmed their commitment to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
When asked to comment on the new AUKUS program, China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun warned that such steps could trigger a crisis similar to the Ukraine conflict in other regions.
"Anyone who doesn't want to see the Ukraine crisis should refrain from doing things that could bring other parts of the world into a crisis like this one," Zhang said, as quoted by Reuters.
The new AUKUS Alliance was officially introduced last September. One of its first programs was to assist Australia in building nuclear submarines.
This program eventually canceled the agreement in the same field between Australia and France and had angered French President Emmanuel Macron.
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