HYDIS project advances with selection of European counter-hypersonic interceptor concept

The Hypersonic Defence Interceptor System (HYDIS) project has reached a new milestone in the development of Europe’s future counter-hypersonic and anti-ballistic interceptor, with participating nations selecting a single interceptor concept following the program’s Final Concept Review.

Managed by OCCAR and co-funded by four Participating States (France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands), through a 3-year Concept Phase, the HYDIS program aims to study, mature and select an effective interceptor concept or family of concepts to counter hypersonic threats.

Over the past few months, the consortium partners led by MBDA have worked hard in all domains of the interceptor and weapon system design, renowned institutes, academics and start-ups, on the design and technology maturation activities. The technical activities encompassed the design studies to refine the solid rocket motor-based concepts to match our customer requirements.

The HYDIS team specifically established an extensive performance assessment to evaluate the interception capabilities and the area protection of the most promising concepts based on a simulation with enhanced representation of the several phases of the interceptor fly-out.     

The selected interceptor concept incorporates contributions from several consortium members. AVIO supported the development of the solid rocket motor propulsion architecture, ArianeGroup and ROXEL worked on the final-stage control mechanism, and LYNRED contributed the terminal infrared (IR) sensor, with MBDA integrating these elements into the overall interceptor design.

The consortium also continued work on integrating the interceptor into a complete weapon system. Thales Netherlands refined performance data for both naval and ground-based sensor suite options, while GKN Fokker advanced studies on integrating the interceptor’s ammunition with the Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS).

This move represents a significant step before the conclusive milestone of the Concept Phase in May 2027.