European Hypersonic Missile Development Faces Infrastructure and Strategic Challenges

MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Despite Europe's efforts to accelerate the development of its own hypersonic missiles and countermeasures, the associated technological challenges exist, and it is currently impossible to avoid them, representatives of companies involved in European hypersonic programs stated at a specialized roundtable in Madrid.

The event, titled Hypersonic Challenges, organized by the Circle Foundation (La Fundacion Circulo), took place on May 27.

Representatives from Sener, Airbus Defense and Space, MBDA (Spain), SMS (Spanish Missile Systems), and INTA (Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial) participated.

All of them are involved in some way or another in the current EU hypersonic vehicle development initiatives. In particular, Spain's Cener plays a coordinating role in the Hydef program, aimed at creating a European hypersonic interceptor missile.

According to the Infodefensa portal, the roundtable participants agreed that European companies possess all the technological expertise and modern digital design capabilities necessary to create complex systems such as hypersonic weapons.

However, looking further into the future, it becomes clear that the virtual flight simulations of prototype hypersonic vehicles must be followed by real-world testing. The infrastructure for conducting these tests does not exist in Europe.

This imposes certain restrictions on European developers, making the EU dependent on third countries that have such infrastructure. The focus is primarily on wind tunnels, specialized laboratories, and testing grounds where the performance of prototypes being developed in Europe could be tested and validated, taking into account all the thermal and aerodynamic conditions under which such aircraft will be expected to operate.

Moreover, as company representatives noted, the concerns are not only technological but also strategic. Some industry representatives noted that testing hypersonic aircraft outside of Europe would mean "exposing the products being developed, the materials from which they are made, to the public eye," revealing their design and external components to foreign intelligence agencies--all of which is classified information. Given growing global competition in technological development and the EU's attempts to achieve strategic autonomy in the military-industrial sphere, this entails serious risks.

Another important aspect is the cost of such testing. "Testing [in real-world conditions] is very expensive," noted Sener Chief Engineer Rodrigo Haya. "It's not like in the world of drones where we can shorten cycles by testing quickly and cheaply. Here, every test costs money."

Representing INTA, Jose Hermida, for his part, pointed out that there aren't many wind tunnels in the world suitable for hypersonic testing, so it makes sense to build a dedicated center for such testing in Europe. "And the implementation of a test center is no longer just a matter of money; it requires a huge input of money, time, and talent," the expert stated.

Other participants noted that attempting to secure funding and then purchase the necessary equipment will require industry to deal with a significant amount of bureaucratic red tape, which will significantly slow down the process. Airbus representative Rocio Gutierrez called on colleagues to closely examine the existing testing infrastructure in Europe, identify its weak points and missing links, in order to properly justify the corresponding financial requests to officials.