In collaboration with France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, MBDA will prototype this interceptor known as Aquila over the next three years to defend against this threat. Research centres, the State-owned Aerospace agency ONERA, the DLR, the ОНВ, the CIRA, and the TNO will also participate. The Hydis2 project responds to a tender issued by the European Commission through the European Defence Fund (EDF). MBDA's proposal includes testing at the technology brick level to ensure the concept's robustness and viability.
The study incorporates several different interceptor designs, each with a unique architectural layout. These include one interceptor with two stages and two interceptors with three stages.
EDF has awarded an 80-million-euro financial contract for the project's concept phase, which will last three years. The goal is to have a working interceptor capability by 2030. According to MBDA, current Western defence systems are effective at altitudes of less than 30 kilometres or high endo-atmospheric, greater than 40 kilometres, or even exo-endo-atmospheric. This creates a gap of 30 to 40 kilometres, which is precisely where hypersonic weapons travel. As a result, at such high speeds, the only defences encountered in this range are terminal defences, which leave very little time for countermeasures.
Israeli defence company Rafale has also presented its Sky Sonic concept at Paris Air Show as hypersonic missile interceptor.
