Key Points and Summary – The United States has deployed its ‘Dark Eagle’ Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon overseas for the first time, sending the system to Australia as part of the massive Talisman Sabre 2025 exercise.
-Capable of traveling at over Mach 5, the mobile missile is designed to penetrate sophisticated air defenses and counter China’s growing military reach in the Indo-Pacific.
-The landmark deployment serves as a direct strategic message to Beijing and a reassurance to U.S. allies. China has reacted angrily, with state-controlled media accusing Australia of acting as a “tool” for Washington’s military ambitions.
U.S. Deploys Hypersonic Weapon In Australia – And China Isn’t Happy
The United States has officially deployed its Dark Eagle Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) system to Australia, in what has been described as a significant milestone in its Indo-Pacific defense posture.
The move, which came as part of the Talisman Sabre 2025 exercise, reflects Washington’s intent to counter Beijing’s growing reach, using new technologies designed to penetrate even the most sophisticated Chinese air defense systems.
The Hawaii-based 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force relocated the system to Australia’s Northern Territory in July, integrating it into a three-week exercise that involved approximately 40,000 troops from 19 nations.
It is the first time the weapon has been deployed overseas, providing the United States with an opportunity to demonstrate its rapid advancement of strike systems and readiness to deploy them in contested theaters.
The Dark Eagle was engineered for exactly this kind of deployment. Each missile can travel at speeds above Mach 5, maneuver in flight to avoid interception, and strike targets as far away as 1,725 miles. Mounted on mobile launchers, the system allows for “shoot-and-scoot” tactics that complicate enemy targeting.
The weapon is designed not only to counter Chinese assets in the South China Sea, but also to provide reassurance to allies that the United States’ edge in the Pacific remains intact.
Patrick Mason, a senior logistics official in the U.S. Army, said in a press release in April that weapons like the Dark Eagle are designed to “complicate adversaries’ decision calculus” and are “strengthening deterrence,” pointing to the weapon’s “speed, accuracy and versatility.”
Not Enough to Take on China?
But the Dark Eagle alone won’t be enough for the United States to keep up, with China forging ahead with its own hypersonic systems – including the DF-17 that was first unveiled in 2019.
Ahead of the upcoming September 3 Victory Day parade in Beijing, reports have also revealed some of China’s newest hypersonic missiles that could be deployed soon after the celebrations come to an end.
In response to the deployment, Chinese analysts have suggested that the United States is inappropriately influencing Australia.
Speaking to the state-controlled South China Morning Post, an analyst from East China Normal University Australia suggested that Australia is a “tool” of the U.S.
“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,” Chen Hong told the outlet.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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