Another key milestone achieved for the European consortium for the Hypersonic Defence Interceptor System
After the first contractual milestone, the Solution Space Review successfully held on December 2024, the HYDIS Concept Phase related to the future interceptor concept aimed at counter-acting the current and emerging hypersonic threats, done alongside the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR - representing the Granting Authority on behalf of the European Commission and the Contracting Authority representing the Participating States), achieved another key milestone with the Initial Concept Review
With the Steering Committee held on October 24th 2025 at OCCAR offices in Montrouge, HYDIS Consortium, led by MBDA, marked a notable achievement along the path of the current Concept Phase, with the completion of the Initial Concepts Review (ICR).
The HYDIS Consortium worked successfully on the down-selection and assessment of the two most promising interceptor concepts, starting from the set of options brought forward from the Solution Space Review. Drawing on the Concept Robustness analysis completed in the first half of 2025, the HYDIS Team has delivered to the participating states DE, FR, IT and NL (*) a comprehensive technical data package. This package includes a detailed value analysis of candidate interceptor concepts, evaluated against the jointly agreed CONOPS and metrics. The project has since converged on a propulsive architecture for both the initial acceleration and mid-course phases and is now advancing investigations into Kill Vehicle designs.
Critical to the project’s success and the timely achievement of all planned milestones is the early and proactive engagement of the participating states during the Concept Phase. This has been facilitated through a series of workshops focused on discussing the information provided by the Nations, enabling a consistent and timely alignment on common user requirements. This process will be finalized in early 2026 during the Mission Definition Review.
With the ICR milestone achievement, the Project has now entered the third step of the Concept Phase to further mature and assess the interceptor design and allow the down-selection to one concept at the Final Concept Review in 2026. Such progress is the result of the successful cooperation of the 19 Partners of the HYDIS consortium that is pushing forward the technical elements necessary to get to the new interceptor solution.
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(*)About the HYDIS Consortium:
Consortium Composition (Partners list):
MBDA FR (Consortium Coordinator and Prime Contractor), MBDA España SL, ROXEL FRANCE, ArianeGroup SAS, LYNRED, OFFICE NATIONAL D’ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHES AEROSPATIALES, MBDA Deutschland GmbH, Bayern-Chemie Gesellschaft für flugchemische Antriebe mbH, TDW Gesellschaft für verteidigungstechnische Wirksysteme mbH, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., OHB System AG, MBDA Italia S.p.A., GE Avio srl, AVIO S.p.A., Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali ScPA, GKN Fokker Aerospace B.V., Thales Nederland B.V., Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO, THALES LAS FRANCE SAS.
The European Hypersonic Defence Interceptor System” (HYDIS) is a project co-funded by the European Union, under the European Defence Fund, and by four Participating States (PSs) which are France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. OCCAR has been entrusted by the European Commission (EC) for the indirect management of the action by the signature of a Contribution Agreement. OCCAR, as Contracting Authority, has concluded a contract with the HYDIS consortium to implement the programme, on behalf of EU and the Member States.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.
