Woomera Range Complex: United States testing new Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile on Australian soil

Secretive testing of an advanced hypersonic weapon capable of travelling at five times the speed of sound is believed to be underway in remote South Australia, following the recent arrival of officials from the Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency (MDA).

Under the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE), Australia and the United States are working to rapidly develop air-launched hypersonic cruise missiles to catch up with similar technology produced by China and Russia.

On Thursday an advanced intelligence and electronic warfare jet attached to the US MDA arrived at RAAF Base Edinburgh outside Adelaide, ahead of “sensitive” activity at the Woomera Range Complex, in the state’s remote north-west.

The American military high-altitude observatory jet is believed to have flown out of Hawaii last week, via Guam before heading to South Australia, and was tracked patrolling the borders of the Woomera Protected Area over the weekend.

At the same time as the modified Gulfstream flew over the restricted Woomera site on Sunday, an RAAF P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft was also tracked operating around the area, although officials have not confirmed if any missile testing occurred.

A defence department spokesperson has declined to answer questions about the unannounced visit by the US Missile Defence Agency but stressed: “US aircraft have been visiting Australia for decades, undertaking a range of activities and tasks.”

“This is a longstanding feature of Australia’s cooperation with the US, in accordance with well understood policies and procedures, and with full respect of Australia’s sovereignty,” the spokesperson told The Nightly.

Pentagon officials believe cutting edge hypersonic technologies will provide “critical advantage to the war fighter,” and consider the SCIFiRE program with Australia crucial to developing future air-launched weapons.

Two years ago, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed RAAF aircraft would help test fire the Hypersonic Land Attack Missile (HACM), with Defence later confirming they would also be integrated onto Australia’s F/A-18F Super Hornet fleet.

HACM is a two-stage missile capable of being air launched and flying to and striking a target at more than five times the speed of sound, and Australia’s involvement in the program is being driven through the SCIFiRE agreement.

Initially the missile is fired by a rocket booster where it accelerates to hypersonic speeds, and then an ‘air-breathing’ scramjet ‘cruiser’ engine takes over for the cruise and terminal stages, before the weapon then reaches its target.

Analysts say the high-speed, highly maneuverable air-breathing weapons can achieve longer ranges compared to traditional rocket-based systems, which carry both fuel and oxidizer, and warn China and Russia are already well ahead on the scramjet technology.

Last year the US Army’s Dark Eagle hypersonic missile system made its international debut when it was deployed to Australia as part of the biennial Talisman Sabre military exercise.

Dark Eagle is a land-based hypersonic weapon designed to strike targets at distances of up to 2735 kilometres while travelling at speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.

Defence describes SCIFiRE as based on “more than 15 years of collaboration between Australia and the United States on science and technology research into hypersonic scramjets, rocket motors, sensors, and advanced manufacturing materials.”

“The new weapon will be a Mach 5-class precision strike missile that is propulsion-launched and powered by an air-breathing scramjet engine,” the Department states on its website.

“It will be capable of being carried by tactical fighter aircraft such as the F/A-18F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and F-35A Lightning II, as well as the P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft.”