European HYDEF team finalises interceptor design for future hypersonic missile shield
Berlin, June 12. Partners involved in Europe’s Hypersonic Defence Interceptor (HYDEF) programme have selected a single missile configuration that will serve as their candidate for a future pan-European system designed to counter emerging hypersonic threats from land and sea.
Speaking to journalists at the ILA Berlin Air Show on June 11, Harald Buschek, Chief Programme Officer at Diehl Defence, said the consortium has settled on a seven-metre-long, three-stage interceptor optimised for extreme manoeuvrability during the terminal phase of engagement.
The missile design comprises a launch booster, a midcourse booster and a separate kill vehicle. According to Buschek, the relatively small and lightweight kill vehicle offers superior agility during the final moments before impact, enabling it to execute rapid corrections and achieve a direct hit against highly manoeuvrable targets.
“The kill vehicle has agility because it is smaller and lighter,” Buschek explained. “You can actually throw it around in the last milliseconds to achieve a direct hit on the target.”
Diehl Defence and Spanish Missile Systems (SMS) are leading the HYDEF consortium, one of two European efforts aimed at developing interceptors capable of defeating hypersonic weapons. The competing programme, known as the Hypersonic Defence Interceptor System (HYDIS²), is headed by MBDA, which is also in the process of narrowing down its own design options.
Both projects are supported by the European Union’s European Defence Fund (EDF) and are intended to contribute to the development of a continent-wide missile defence architecture under the Twister programme. However, only one concept will advance to the next stage – the 100 million-euro High-End Endo-Atmospheric Interception initiative, scheduled to begin in 2027. The programme will focus on demonstrating key interceptor technologies and lay the foundation for an operational system.
Buschek said the HYDEF interceptor will rely on an infrared seeker in its kill vehicle rather than radar guidance. He noted that radar sensors operating close to the target could suffer from degraded image quality, whereas infrared sensors provide a clearer picture of hypersonic vehicles, which generate intense heat while travelling at speeds exceeding Mach 5.
“With an infrared sensor, you really get the shape of the target,” he said, adding that the thermal signature of a hypersonic missile stands out sharply against the cold background of space and upper atmosphere.
While HYDEF is intended to address future battlefield requirements, Buschek noted that the threat posed by hypersonic weapons is already evident in Ukraine, where Russian forces have employed such systems, although in relatively limited numbers due to production constraints.
