France, Germany cooperate to build European missile early warning system

Recognizing that Europe is facing growing ballistic and hypersonic threats, France and Germany are launching the JEWEL initiative to lay the foundations for European early warning capabilities.

The Jewel (European Observatory Joint Early Warning) initiative will serve as the foundation for ODIN's Eye project, integrating an early warning satellite constellation with a ground-based radar network that exploits both existing and next-generation technology.

The French Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans, Catherine Vautrin, and the German Federal Minister of Defence , Boris Pistorius, have jointly signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to launch the JEWEL initiative.

French and German ministers at the signing ceremony of the JEWEL letter of intent.

ODIN's Eye is a European multinational program focused on developing satellite-based early warning capabilities against ballistic and hypersonic missile threats.

ODIN's Eye II program, led by Germany's OHB Systems, brings together a consortium of 43 companies from 14 countries and is funded by the European Union with an investment of 96.6 million euros ($112 million).

The second phase involves defining, developing, integrating and verifying the entire mission and simulation system. Operating by 2030, the Franco-German initiative aims to enable real-time data exchange via a common interface, while also supporting the future involvement of other European partners.

The space segment is expected to be operational by 2030. The project aims to detect and track threats and transmitted data to devise appropriate countermeasures, including data interception.

This capability will include a variety of sensors, including infrared and radar sensors, that can be deployed in space and on ground-based platforms.

The JEWEL initiative will mobilize both space and ground capabilities to defend Europe independently.

“By deploying Jewel, France and Germany are fully assuming their leading role in building up European early warning capabilities, combining space, land and command resources within a framework of full European sovereignty [...] By reinforcing the European pillar of the Alliance, this initiative contributes to NATO's missile defense system. The French and German team will now work together to promote the Jewel initiative with other European partners,” the French Ministry of the Armed Forces said.

Under the agreement, France and Germany will each launch one or two additional, interoperable geostationary satellites capable of continuously monitoring rocket launches from space.

It also provides for the creation of a common interface, known as a 'preliminary interoperability backbone', to ensure the networking of the two national systems, facilitate real-time data exchange and prepare for future capacity building through European components.

This connection marks the first step towards a pan-European capacity, which will be gradually expanded thanks to the contributions of other partner countries.

Ultimately, it will enable the creation of an integrated warning architecture, combining space, ground and command resources in a fully European and sovereign system.

The French and German teams will now work to promote the JEWEL initiative to other European partners, with the aim of making it the basis for a future pan-European early warning system that is integrated, interoperable and fully autonomous.