Joint production of hypersonic missiles by Australia and the United States could reduce pressure on the US defence industrial base and increase deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, says US Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul.
In an interview in Sydney, the chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said Australia’s manufacturing of cutting-edge weapons provided an example of how streamlining US licensing of sensitive defence technology and licensing exemptions for 70 per cent of defence exports to Australia from September 1 would help the US compete with China in developing advanced weapons.
Hypersonic missiles, which travel in the upper atmosphere more than five times faster than sound, were tested by China in 2021, sparking a technological race with the United States.
Its recent use by Russia in the Ukraine war has raised concerns among NATO members.
A Chinese hypersonic weapon “could reach Australia in a matter of minutes and Australia can’t stop it right now, so we have some catching up to do,” McCaul said Friday.
“I was at a hypersonic company yesterday and we want to move towards co-production,” he said.
“It’s already starting and that’s what’s exciting, because it will help alleviate the strain we see on the defense industrial base.”
Australia is testing a hypersonic strike cruise missile with the United States, which it will consider its first such weapon for fighter aircraft, the two countries’ defence and foreign ministers said after talks last week.
McCaul said his visit focused on the AUKUS partnership with the United States and Britain to transfer nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, as well as develop other advanced defence technologies.
The AUKUS alliance was an example of a US ally spending more on its own defence, he said, when asked whether a re-elected Donald Trump would continue to back a growing US defence posture in Australia and the sale of US nuclear submarines in the coming decade.
The AUKUS talks began under Republican President Trump, he said.
“I think there will be strong support,” McCaul said.
US nuclear submarine rotations through Australia under AUKUS are a deterrent in the region, where the Philippines is under pressure from China in the South China Sea, he said, after visiting the Philippines.
“I think President Xi fears this alliance more than anything else because he knows what it means: It means that nuclear submarines will rotate, but also these innovative technologies that we have,” he said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This week in Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry said AUKUS “undermines efforts” to keep the region peaceful and secure and exacerbates the arms race.
