Australian 3D missile printing could help US catch up with Chinese hypersonics

澳大利亞的3D導彈列印可以幫助美國追趕上中國的超高音速導彈

Brisbane-based company can print 1 engine every 3 weeks


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A small Australian 3D printing firm, Hypersonix, could give the U.S. the boost it needs to catch up with China and Russia in hypersonic missile technology.

Senior U.S. officials first assessed the firm’s scramjet engine in March, per an AsiaTimes report. The simplicity and scalability of the design may be preferable to current American models, especially since Hypersonix claims it only takes three weeks to create one engine via its 3D printing process.

Hypersonix’s unique technology could potentially plug holes in U.S. hypersonic research projects, which have suffered numerous setbacks, including test failures, material shortages, budget mismanagement, and technology acquisition issues, according to a DefenseOne report. Thus, the U.S. has been unable to deploy an effective hypersonic weapon, even as its near-peer rival China has made breakthrough strides in missile technology.

Brisbane-based Hypersonix is a part of a team of Australian companies and research units that were recently granted US$2.2 million (NT$57.4 million) by Canberra to develop a reusable hypersonic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can reach Mach 12. The company has already signed an agreement with an American company, Kratos, to test-launch its signature DART AE hypersonic hydrogen-fueled UAV next year.

Such partnerships between Australian and American hypersonics are set to grow as the allies deepen security engagement amid shared concerns of Chinese military expansion. On Tuesday (April 5), Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. announced they would enlarge the scope of their trilateral security alliance — AUKUS — to include hypersonic missiles.

The leaders of the three countries said in a joint statement they are “committed today to commence new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as to expand information sharing and to deepen cooperation on defense innovation.”

The AUKUS expansion follows recent interviews by the Financial Times with three high-ranking U.S. officers who met with their Australian counterparts last week at Pine Gap — a top-secret joint intel base located deep in the southern continent’s desert interior. The U.S. officers said they are working to increase digital convergence with Australia to secure communications between space commanders in both countries and that Australia is essential to overcoming the “tyranny of distance” and helping the U.S. monitor China’s moves in space.

Leaders in Washington and Canberra are equally worried about China’s new hypersonic capabilities.

Last month, Chinese researchers announced they had created an artificial intelligence system that autonomously recognized shock waves in wind tunnel tests used to design hypersonic missiles. This follows news the country has developed a microwave machine that emits a pulse so strong it could potentially jam or destroy satellites.

These developments come after revelations China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle that flew through low-orbit space in August last year, which some in Washington likened to a “new Sputnik moment.”

In a recent interview with The Diplomat, retired U.S. Navy Captain Carl Schuster said defenders have an extremely narrow time window defenders have to intercept hypersonic missiles.

“You’ve got about a 25-second window,” he said. “If you shoot too late, the missile won’t catch up. If you shoot too early, the (hypersonic) missile maneuvers, and once again you miss.”

“Hypersonic missiles are more difficult to engage because they can move laterally as well as vertically, so you require more than one missile to take one out,” he said, referring to hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV).

The U.S. has recently stepped up efforts to install hypersonic missiles on its own warships and has contracted Raytheon Technologies to assist in building and testing the Glide Phase Interceptor, the first interceptor specifically designed to defeat hypersonic threats. More resources are being spent on technology to track China’s hypersonics too.

Policy experts like Thomas Karako, a senior fellow at Washington D.C.-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in November the U.S. needs to deploy space-based sensors to counter the Chinese military’s new missiles.

In December, the U.S. Space Force awarded Arizona-based GEOST a contract worth US$32 million (NT$883.84 million) for its prototype space-based sensors in an effort to get more eyes "above the skies.”