A session hosted at DIEHL’s facilities on 25-26 August 2026 has brought about the final technical milestone for the European HYDEF programme, successfully concluding the Preliminary Requirements Review (PRR).
HYDEF (for HYpersonic DEFence) Interceptor Programme was launched in response to the 2021 European Defence Fund (EDF) call for an “Endo-atmospheric Interceptor” capability in the category “Protection against High Velocity Aerial Threats”.
The programme is still in its very early phases, having been sustained with the injection of funding with a total amount of €110 million, of which €100 million are co-funded by the EU European Defence Fund (EDF) and the other €10 million are funded by the 5 Participating States: Belgium, Germany, Norway, Poland and Spain.
The contract, signed at the end of October 2023, made the HYDEF study the first European project for anti-hypersonic defence to get in motion, before HYDIS2 followed.
The HYDEF Consortium consists of 12 companies from the 5 participating Nations: SONACA from Belgium; Diehl Defence from Germany; NAMMO from Norway; ILOT and ITWL from Poland; SMS, EM&E, GMV, Instalaza, INTA, Navantia and Sener from Spain.
The Programme coordination within the HYDEF Consortium is led by the Spanish company SMS, based in Madrid, Spain, while the Technical Coordination, from the development of the overall system, is the responsibility of the German air defence systems company Diehl Defence, based in Lake Constance.
The meeting on 25-26 August brought together the national project coordinations and technical experts to mark the conclusion of the Preliminary Requirement Review and, with it, of the programme’s whole Feasibility Phase and the Early Maturation of Critical Technologies and Designs.
This phase has seen the definition of the selected concept, including the technical solutions, development plans, physical and functional concepts, and the associated functional architecture.
The PRR focused on proving interoperability requirements have been met through adherence to recognised international standards, including relevant STANAGs. “The review also provided Life Cycle Cost information for the selected concept. In addition, all critical technologies within the Block 0 interceptor configuration have achieved at least Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3”.
The Technology Plan emerging from the PRR provides a comprehensive TRL assessment, identifies key technical risks, and, most importantly, references future development activities aimed at achieving a TRL 6 prototype for the HYDEF interceptor's physical elements. The conclusion of the PRR enables the project to report to the European Defence Fund (EDF) within the deadline (29 september) for the tender known as EATMI II, opened in February this year.
EATMI II (from High-end endo-atmospheric interception) will support further development of the selected project(s). It is expected to build on what HYDEF and HYSIS2 have produced during the first phase (EATMI I) and intends to see the interceptor reach “at least” TRL 6 at system level by 2030. EATMI II should also “contribute to” and “support” a future preliminary design review (PDR) of the full interceptor system, paving the way for a later development and industrialisation phase, deally from 2030 onwards.
The requirement as defined by the EATMI II tender calls for “versatility against both ballistic missiles (including highly manoeuvrable ones) and emerging hypersonic threats; high manoeuvrability across different altitudes; high average speed to protect large areas (with sensor-suite balance at the 2035+ horizon); compatibility with legacy launchers; interoperability with existing surface-based air and missile defence (SBAMD) and NATO’s integrated air and missile defence system (NATINAMDS); high-speed/long-range connectivity between fire control, sensors and effectors; compatible radar-suite roadmap integration; and integration with launcher/platform C2 functions.”
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