China blasts Australia as a ‘US tool’ after hosting secret Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles in war games

Australia has been called a "tool" by China after hosting a classified US hypersonic missile system prototype during recent war simulations.

The charge follows the first-ever use of the US Army's experimental Dark Eagle Long Range Hypersonic Weapon outside of the US mainland.

As part of recent weeks' exercises for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, two mobile missile launchers were transported by heavy lift aircraft to the Northern Territory and then transported by road to unidentified locations.


Every two years, Australia hosts the Talisman Sabre exercise.

It brought together 40,000 troops, sailors, and aircrew from 19 different countries this year for a variety of exercises aimed at enhancing military readiness and interoperability.

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in China on July 13, everything began.

The deployment of the missile to the global exercise was described by Shanghai Fudan University strategist Xin Qiang as a "flexing of military muscle" to the SCMP. According to Mr. Xin, "China will undoubtedly maintain a high level of alertness and attention to this." "China and the United States' military and security competition in the Indo-Pacific region is probably going to get even more intense."

Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army and a well-known media analyst, told the SCMP that Beijing had not overlooked the new Dark Eagle LRHW missile's symbolic appearance in Australia. The rocket can go from the Northern Territory to Chinese-occupied territory.

According to a June US Congressional Research Service report released last month, the truck-trailer-based system can move faster than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound, or 6170 km/h) and has a 2800 km range.

In less than half an hour, it could go from Australia to Beijing's unlawful island strongholds in the South China Sea.

However, Mr. Zhou, who is currently employed at the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, downplayed the importance of the missile.

China has had superior hypersonic missiles for a longer period of time, he informed the SCMP.

"When it comes to comparing weapons, it's not like they have something we don't," he stated.

"We might even have something superior to what they have."

He mentioned that the Dark Eagle and the DF-17 hypersonic missile performed similarly. Since 2019, it has been in operation.

"The newer DF-27 could fly three times as far," Mr. Zhou continued.

By the end of this year, Dark Eagle is anticipated to formally join the US Army. It's among the initial operational results of a multi-decade competition to match Russia's and Beijing's hypersonic developments. A battery, or US Army Dark Eagle unit, consists of four launchers that can carry eight missiles in total. Command and engineering vehicles assist this.

It is hoped that the rockets' great speed will enable them to avoid the strong gun, laser, and missile defences on China's island fortress stepping stones between Vietnam and the Philippines.

Due to numerous cost overruns, testing delays, and technological issues, Dark Eagle is now three years behind schedule.

However, the Talisman Sabre deployment has “validated” its capabilities, including the ability to communicate with its command centre while going beyond the horizon at hypersonic speeds, according to a recent press statement from the US Army.

In an army announcement, Dark Eagle Bravo Battery commander Captain Jennifer Lee declared, "The Dark Eagle is truly ready to go."

Diplomacy on the edge

The Chinese Communist Party is upset that Dark Eagle was sent to Australia while the Prime Minister was in Beijing.

"The apparent rift or divergence between Canberra's diplomatic and military spheres is what keeps us vigilant and concerned," Mr. Chen told the SCMP.

According to Chen Hong, an expert at East China Normal University Australia, "Australia has not only already been a tool of the US Indo-Pacific strategy, but is increasingly becoming both a strategic and tactical weapon for Washington across multiple aspects," the Beijing-controlled South China Morning Post reported.

In addition to tackling the growing security challenges in South East Asia, the Albanese government claims to be pursuing an engagement strategy with China. In order to show the cohesion and compatibility of its alliances and the legitimacy of its declared security commitment to the region, Mr. Xin added, "I'm afraid that... the main intention of the US (is) to exert a certain deterrence against China - to project this posture and attitude."

Rising regional tensions

Given Beijing's assertive territorial claims, a number of Talisman Sabre drill participants are worried about their personal safety.

Chinese military and civilian incursions into the waters surrounding Japan's Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea are becoming more regular.

Additionally, the Philippines fights for access to and jurisdiction over portions of the Spratly Islands, which are located a few hundred kilometres off its coast, on a nearly daily basis.

Additionally, Australia has had a number of risky run-ins with Chinese warships and aircraft in the South China Sea in recent years, despite being a member of an international police operation there since the conclusion of World War II.

Despite UN accords that divide the oceans according to formulas agreed upon by respective coastal governments, Beijing maintains ownership of the whole East and South China Seas.

The largest fleet in the world, a contemporary and expanding air force, and a stockpile of cutting-edge missiles intended to target US aircraft carrier battle groups are all currently possessed by China. Japan, the Philippines, and Australia are all allies of the United States, and the US has been responding to their efforts to fortify its own defensive posture in the so-called First Island Chain.

Beijing has proclaimed these group of islands between Papua New Guinea and Japan to be its main area of influence.

When the Philippines permitted US anti-ship missile batteries to practise on Philippine soil earlier this year, Beijing responded vehemently.

There has also been outrage about Japan's plans to purchase comparable weapons.

In order to test alliance capabilities to protect its remote Sakishima Islands from air and sea attack, it will play a joint war exercise with the US in September.