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AUSTRALIA, Britain and the United States are set to expand the Aukus military alliance by working together on the development of hypersonic missiles, it was announced late on Tuesday.
PM Boris Johnson, Australian PM Scott Morrison and US President Joe Biden said in a joint statement that they would “commence new trilateral co-operation on hypersonics, counter-hypersonics, electronic warfare capabilities and information sharing on defence innovation.
“These initiatives will add to our existing efforts on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and additional undersea capabilities,” the statement said.
The trio signed a security pact last September which initially focused on the development of nuclear submarine capability.
China, North Korea and others warned that the alliance posed a threat to regional stability and that it could trigger a new arms race.
The leaders said their focus had now shifted since Russia’s “unprovoked, unjustified and unlawful” invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Moscow has already claimed to have used hypersonic missiles to destroy a fuel depot in the Black Sea city of Mykolayiv and an ammunition store in western Ivano-Frankivsk.
Washington said it tested its own hypersonic missile in mid-March.
