{
 "slug": "bliksem-exo-consortium-thales-airbus-mbda-safran-destinus-exo-atmospheric-interceptor-2027",
 "title": "The Bliksem EXO Consortium: Thales, Airbus, MBDA, Safran and Destinus Build Europe's First Exo-Atmospheric Interceptor, with Space Kill-Vehicle Test in 2027",
 "url": "https://www.grosswald.org/bliksem-exo-consortium-thales-airbus-mbda-safran-destinus-exo-atmospheric-interceptor-2027/",
 "canonical": "https://www.grosswald.org/bliksem-exo-consortium-thales-airbus-mbda-safran-destinus-exo-atmospheric-interceptor-2027/",
 "type": "dispatch",
 "published": "2026-07-15T13:59:45.000+02:00",
 "updated": "2026-07-29T18:22:55.000+02:00",
 "excerpt": "\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nParis, 14 July 2026\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKey points\n\n\n * Thales, Airbus, MBDA Deutschland, Safran and the Netherlands-based aerospace start-up Destinus signed a letter of intent in Paris on 14 July to establish the Bliksem EXO Consortium\n * The consortium aims to build what it calls Europe's first interceptor able to destroy medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the exo-atmospheric layer — above where Patriot and the Franco-Italian SAMP/T reach\n * Destinus leads as prime and integrator,",
 "countries": [],
 "domains": [
  "industry"
 ],
 "capabilities": [
  "air-missile-defence"
 ],
 "tags": [
  "defense-industry",
  "iamd-air-missile-defense"
 ],
 "sources": [],
 "entities": [
  "airbus",
  "essi",
  "hensoldt",
  "italy",
  "mbda",
  "nato",
  "netherlands",
  "patriot",
  "thales",
  "trml-4d"
 ],
 "inferred": {
  "countries": [
   "italy",
   "netherlands"
  ],
  "domains": [
   "alliance-policy",
   "industry"
  ],
  "capabilities": [
   "air-missile-defence"
  ]
 }
}