Defense News:

Spanish and German missile manufacturers are leading an effort to develop a new hypersonic defense interceptor as part of the European Defence Fund’s initial batch of sponsored projects.

In July, the European Union announced the awardees of it’s first slate of EDF-funded projects, which included 61 research-and-development projects and over 1.2 billion (U.S. $1.23 billion) in government funds.

Among the higher awards is the European Hypersonic Defence Interceptor (EU HYDEF) program, which will cover the concept phase to develop an endo-atmospheric interceptor, according to European Defence Fund documents. The program will run for 36 months and is expected to cost nearly €110 million ($110.2 million). The EU will contribute a maximum of almost €100 million to the effort.

Spain’s Sener Aerospacial Sociedad Anonima is coordinating the EU HYDEF program, while Germany’s Diehl Defence is serving as the overall technical lead, company officials said.

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