Australia’s Hypersonix has received a contract from the UK Ministry of Defense to develop hypersonic missiles.

Hypersonix Launch Systems said it would help accelerate the development of the Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF) project.

The HTCDF project aims to develop the UK’s hypersonic capability to support the country’s defense services.

The UK’s pursuit of hypersonic weapons stems from former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s commitment to allocate 2.5% of GDP to defense by 2030.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer supported the commitment, demonstrating all party groups’ confidence in its importance.

Hypersonic missiles are seen as a technology that could be vital to ensuring a robust defense posture in the short to medium term.

Over the next seven years, the government will spend £1 billion on the hypersonic initiative.

Hypersonix Launch Systems is a well-known aerospace engineering, design, and manufacturing company that specializes in hypersonic technology and scramjet engines.

The contract with the British HTCDF was signed 12 months after Hypersonix received an agreement from the United States to build and launch the Hypersonix DART test vehicle.

DART is a 3.5-meter-long hydrogen-powered aircraft that reaches a speed of Mach 7 (about 8600 km/h) and is equipped with a single SPARTAN jet engine.

In the future, such vehicles will be used to test the US Army’s new technologies and special capabilities.

Hypersonix is also creating a reusable green hydrogen launch system to deliver small satellites into orbit.