Accelerated delivery of AUKUS Pillar II Hypersonic Systems

The three AUKUS partners, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, have signed a milestone agreement to accelerate the testing of hypersonic vehicles and related technologies. The RAAF has already confirmed that its F/A-18F Super Hornets will be armed with a hypersonic missile.

Under AUKUS Pillar II, the new Hypersonic Flight Test and Experimentation (HyFliTE) Project Arrangement (PA) will enable the three nations to use each other’s testing facilities  and share technical information to develop, test and evaluate Mach 5+ hypersonic systems. Hypersonics is listed as one of six technology priorities under the AUKUS Pillar 2 agreement

“This agreement will accelerate Australia’s sovereign ability to develop and deliver offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies – through a robust testing and experimentation campaign under AUKUS Pillar 2,” Chief Defence Scientist, Professor Tanya Monro AC, said.

“HyFliTE will leverage our collective expertise and innovation enterprises to deliver hypersonic capabilities at pace.”

The UK’s Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF), which was used to source British industry support initially, provides an accelerated approach to the market. It includes more than 90 suppliers and has a commercial headroom of up to £1 billion ($1.94 billion). The supplier come from across the AUKUS nations and European allies.

“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,” said Heidi Shyu, US Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

This development follows the AUKUS Defence Ministers’ Meeting on 26 September where it was announced that the three nations were increasing their collective ability to develop and deliver offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies under Pillar 2. Australia and the US already collaborate on hypersonic vehicle development through the bilateral SCiFIRE program.

Existing national efforts will be woven together through the PA, which includes up to six trilateral flight test campaigns to occur by 2028 with a total funding pool of US$252 million ($386 million). These campaigns seek to increase the pace of testing and take advantage of combined partner resources, test facilities, and substantial experience conducting similar campaigns.

These flight tests will accelerate the development of hypersonic concepts and critical enabling technologies. Australia plans to arm its F/A-18F Super Hornets with a hypersonic weapon, the Mach 8 SCRAMJET-powered Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) for which Raytheon is prime contractor; Northrop Grumman provides the engine. It’s understood that testing of the HACM, which has a reported range of some 1,900km, will be undertaken in Australia.

Development of hypersonic technology is also a key Australian defence technology priority according to the 2024 National Defence Strategy. It is a capability that can hold time-critical and heavily defended targets at risk from increased ranges, enhancing the survivability of the ADF against potential threats, says Defence.