Building a UK hypersonics capability: the AUKUS perspective
The Leidos AUKUS Purple Paper on hypersonics discusses the role of the Australian-United Kingdon-U.S. (AUKUS) alliance in advancing hypersonic capabilities, focusing on creating a U.K sovereign hypersonics capability. Identified are the key regulatory themes of cohesion, technology development, people and processes, and industrial resilience, all within the context of geopolitical threats and global instability. By efficiently working together, AUKUS nations can drive economic growth, strengthen engineering talent pipelines, and reinforce their strategic advantage in an evolving global security landscape.
AUKUS is a trilateral security pact aimed at enhancing defence cooperation, with Pillar 1 focusing on nuclear-powered submarines for Australia and Pillar 2 looking at advanced defence technologies, including hypersonics. Hypersonic technologies, defined as vehicles traveling at speeds over Mach 5, offer significant defence potential but also pose substantial technological challenges.
The U.S. leads in hypersonics development, while Australia and the U.K. are catching up. This disparity is a challenge in aligning strategic goals and ensuring equitable project contribution. The Hypersonic Flight Test and Experimentation (HyFliTE) Project Arrangement, signed in November 2024, aims to accelerate hypersonic development through robust experimentation.
Effective collaboration, innovation, and a culture of cooperation are essential for AUKUS' success. Regulatory changes, such as streamlined international traffic in arms regulations (ITAR) rules, facilitate better technology sharing.
National policies must adapt to stay ahead of adversaries, and joint efforts in technology development, testing, and workforce training are crucial. Despite the U.S. having the most advanced hypersonics capabilities, Australia and the U.K. have differing operational needs, with Australia focusing on deterrence while the U.K. is focusing on deterring and offensive considerations due to geopolitical tensions in Europe. As a result, AUKUS nations must continue to share realignment with partners throughout the development and supply chain to ensure joint capability.
A significant advantage of the AUKUS alliance is sharing existing research, engineering expertise, and testing technologies in differing real-world environments. However, a major challenge lies in the integration of hypersonic technologies across different military platforms, which varies between the three countries as each nation has different defence systems, weapons architectures, and operational doctrines.
Another challenge is the time differences, and collaborative work hours must be scheduled accordingly to support colleagues. A “whole force” resource for hypersonics will require a rethink of employment restrictions and are essential for the practical applications of the AUKUS partnership.
Therefore, the role of industry and academia is crucial to support driving the innovation, as partnering with the private sector can support governments in leveraging research. While the technology is used for defence applications, it is not restricted to only that area and can be used for travel and space exploration. By exploring these dual-use applications, AUKUS nations could create an ecosystem for hypersonic technology that benefits both their national security and economies.
AUKUS represents a significant shift in defence strategy, requiring disruptive approaches to deliver advanced capabilities and maintain global stability. Hypersonics is a once-in a generation opportunity and will be key in ensuring AUKUS nations innovate collaboratively.
