France’s Thales Group has unveiled details behind a new air and missile defense system in what many will see as Europe’s answer to US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome announced last year.
On March 11, 2025, Thales introduced SkyDefender to the world, describing the innovation as “a multi-layer, multi-domain integrated air and missile defense system”, designed to offer “full protection against all types of air threats, on land, at sea and in space”.
In a statement, Thales said that SkyDefender will deal with all types of air threats, from a few kilometers to several thousands of kilometers.
The defense dome relies on an integrated network of advanced sensors and effectors through Thales’ SkyView command and control (C2) system, along with SkyView Alliance to ensure seamless interoperability with NATO and allied multi-domain platforms.
Thales highlights that SkyDefender is built on an open, modular architecture so it can be easily integrated with existing defenses and further developed as threats evolve.
“The development and deployment of the system is open to partnerships with other industrial players. SkyDefender is fully compatible with a wide variety of sensors and weapon systems, including those from different manufacturers and existing legacy platforms,” explained Thales.
SkyDefender also incorporates Thales AI accelerator, cortAIx, which enables proactive defense against cyberattacks and evolving threats.
“As air and missile threats are evolving faster than ever, from slow-moving drones to hypersonic missiles, attacks are becoming increasingly complex, saturating and unpredictable,” said a spokesperson for Thales.
In May 2025, President Trump unveiled an $175 billion missile defense initiative dubbed the “Golden Dome,” aimed at creating a shield to protect US territory from foreign missile threats, including ballistic, cruise, hypersonic, and space-launched weapons.
How will SkyDefender protect against short, medium and long-range threats?
For protection of forces, vital assets and sensitive sites (short-range)
ForceShield creates a real protection bubble against lower layer and surface threats at very short- and short-range, such as drones.
For protection at theatre-level defense (medium-range)
SAMP-T NG air defense system by eurosam with up to 150 km engagement range, including Thales’ Ground Fire radar with 350 km range and 360°/90° coverage against medium-range defense.
For protection against long-range threats with early-warning capabilities (long-range)
A unique capacity that empowers armed forces with superior tracking, identifying hard-to-find targets including fighter jets and ballistic missiles bolstering Space Domain Awareness (SDA).
Combines Thales SMART-L MM and UHF radars, which can detect potential threats at distances of up to 5,000 km, and Alenia Space which offers an early warning solution from geostationary orbit.
Satellites equipped with infrared sensors that can detect a missile threat, and give the accurate location of the launch, even before it enters the areas covered by ground-based radars.
Combined with the ground-based UHF advanced long-range radars, it provides permanent surveillance, early detection and trajectory follow-up of long-range threat.
What Thales says about SkyDefender
Hervé Dammann, Executive Vice-President, Land and Air Systems, Thales said: “Thales is proud to contribute to the sovereignty of our nations with SkyDefender, the global air and missile defense dome based on our latest advanced technologies, from counter-drone protection to early warning capacities.”
He added: “With SkyDefender Thales provides a combat-proven system, easy-to-integrate and available today, confirming our position as a long-term trusted partner for the armed forces.”
