European Allies Move to Close Ballistic-Missile Defence Gap

By Sebastian Wigg, Alice Charalombous, and Alexandra Ryabov

Europe is moving to close a major missile-defence gap, but the UK remains exposed in the near term.

On 13 July, Ukraine and nine European states, including the UK, established the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, which will explore the joint development of a more affordable interceptor built around Ukraine’s Freyja project. Funding remains at the stage of identifying potential opportunities rather than binding commitments. The following day, Thales, Airbus, MBDA Deutschland, Safran and Destinus formed the Bliksem EXO Consortium, aiming to develop Europe’s first sovereign interceptor capable of destroying ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere, with an initial test planned for 2027.

Both initiatives reflect concern that Europe remains reliant on a limited pool of US-made Patriot and European SAMP/T systems, whose interceptor stocks are already under pressure. Russian strikes on Ukraine demonstrate the challenge that ballistic missiles can be combined with drones, cruise missiles, and decoys to saturate air defences and exhaust scarce interceptors - a tactic that would be considerably harder to absorb if used against NATO territory.

For the UK, the immediate issue is resilience and prioritisation rather than technology alone. Likely wartime targets could include military airfields, ports, energy infrastructure, communications networks and sites supporting the movement of Allied forces through the UK. With neither programme expected to provide a deployable capability for several years, the Government would face difficult choices over which assets could realistically be protected. This strengthens the case for parallel investment in infrastructure hardening, dispersal, emergency stocks, and continuity planning.

Both projects remain at an early stage and lack binding funding or procurement commitments. As with the UK’s Defence Investment Plan, their credibility will ultimately depend on whether delivery matches political ambition.