European defense companies sign Letter of Intent to establish missile interceptor consortium

European defense companies have signed a Letter of Intent to establish the Bliksem EXO Consortium, a multinational industrial partnership to develop Europe's first sovereign exo-atmospheric upper-layer interceptor program, Report informs, citing Thales Group.

The document was signed in Paris during the inaugural meeting of the anti-ballistic coalition at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in the presence of Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten.

The consortium includes Thales, Airbus Defence and Space, Destinus, MBDA Deutschland and Safran Electronics & Defense. It will work on the development, qualification, industrial-scale production and support of the Bliksem EXO interceptor.

Bliksem EXO is designed to counter medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats, including systems with separating and maneuvering re-entry vehicles. The system is intended to detect, track and defeat such threats in the midcourse phase above the atmosphere through direct kinetic hit-to-kill impact, without an explosive warhead.

The program is intended to complement existing and planned European lower-layer missile defense capabilities and provide an upper layer for Europe's layered missile defense architecture.

It is designed for full interoperability with NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence and the European Sky Shield Initiative.

Under the consortium structure, Destinus will serve as consortium lead and prime contractor, responsible for system integration and the exo-atmospheric kill vehicle. MBDA Deutschland will be responsible for the interceptor booster, launcher and canister, while Safran Electronics & Defense will handle the seeker, guidance, navigation and control.

Airbus Defence and Space will be responsible for command and control and battle management, while Thales will oversee the radar and sensor chain, from early warning to fire control.

The program will draw on Ukraine's operational experience in countering massed air and missile attacks during system design, testing and evaluation, subject to export-control, security and government requirements.

The companies intend to conclude a binding consortium agreement within three months of signing the Letter of Intent. Joint engineering work is expected to begin in August 2026, and the consortium plans to conduct an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle test in space in 2027.

The Letter of Intent does not create any obligation to procure, supply or fund the system, and all activities will be subject to relevant national and European regulations and procedures.