The UK and its Aukus allies push on towards hypersonic weapons and AI technology

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Emmanuel Macron declared last month: “Australia will be confronted with what we said at the time they made their decision, Aukus will not deliver.” Aukus, however, appears to be going ahead without fanfare and expanding into areas beyond submarines – its "second pillars" – with the possibility of other states, notably Japan, joining in the future. The first Aukus defence ministers conference in Washington this week, with the US's Lloyd Austin; UK's Ben Wallace and Australia's Richard Marles attending, will give an update on the warships but also focus on developing advanced capabilities such as hypersonic armaments, undersea capabilities and Artificial Intelligence technology. In turn, Admiral Tony Radakin, the head of UK’s armed forces warned that Russian submarine activity is threatening undersea cables, “the world’s real information system” and damaging them would be considered “an act of war”. At present only China, US, Russia and India have developed fully functional hypersonic weapons including glide vehicles, rail guns, ballistic and cruise missiles with independent programming and sustained combustions.