China stepped up work in the development of new types of weapons and military equipment. In this connection US and Australia are trying to level Beijing’s military potential in Asia-Pacific region. In spite of sanctions pressure China continues to focus on producing new types of weapons superior to their western counterparts. According to the available data, public and state enterprises of China are planning to invest $471mln in creation of a venture capital fund, aimed at development of advanced military technology in circumvention of US sanctions. Guangzhou Haige Communications Group, China Poly Group and other companies will take part in this project. The fund should become a platform for imposing technology competition on US, stimulating innovation market, strengthening foreign ties and commercialize technologies. Besides, experts believe that costs of building ships for the People’s Liberation Army Navy Beijing will compensate by civil shipbuilding. In particular, China State Shipbuilding Corp., which fulfills commercial orders for Taiwan, France, Japan and Switzerland, is now building the third aircraft carriers for the People’s Liberation Army. To overcome the current situation, specialists from US recommended that Washington reorient foreign companies to Japanese and South Korean shipbuilders. According to Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a threat to the Australian Navy and other US allies in Asia-Pacific region is Chinese YJ-12 anti-ship cruise missiles that can be used as the most effective tool to counter Western fleets in the event of their attempts to enter the waters disputed by Beijing in the Western Pacific. Phased array radars of Australian Hobard-class destroyers and Anzac-class frigates may locate such missiles only within line of sight. China hypersonic missile technology is another reason for Washington and Canberra to be worried. In April 2022, Australia, Great Britain and US announced their intention to expand cooperation within AUKUS in productions of hypersonic missiles. At the same time the ramjet engine, produced by Australian Hypersonix, will help to overcome the backlog of the United States. Alongside this, US and Australia deepen coordination of their armed forces trying to form a system of complex deterrence on China in space and cyberspace. In March 2022, a meeting of the leadership of the ministries of defense of US and Australia was held at the intelligence center Pine Gap. According to the statement of the parties, Washington in working on the expansion of the digital convergence with Canberra to provide communication between space commands; to expand joint cybersecurity exercises and to improve China satellite surveillance. All of this is a result of the increasing China’s military capabilities in space and cybertechnologies. Beijing announced a creation of artificial intelligence system, which will automatically recognize shock waves in wind tunnels used to develop hypersonic missiles. China also developed microwave device which can disable and destroy satellites. Moreover, China tested a hypersonic planning device capable of carrying nuclear weapon.
In response to this, specialists from “CSIS” recommended Washington to deploy a sensor system in orbit to counter Chinese weapons. As a result, US signed a $32mln contract with “GEOST” to create a prototype of space-based sensors. Thus, we see that the confrontation between US and China is reaching a new level.