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Redazione RHC : 30 November 2025 14:17
Italian defense company Leonardo has unveiled its new Michelangelo Dome system . According to the company, it is designed to counter hypersonic missiles and mass drone attacks . During the technical presentation to the Italian Minister of Defense and Chiefs of Staff, CEO Roberto Cingolani announced plans to begin deployment as early as 2026 and reach full operational capability by 2028.
The name says it all, and the resemblance to Israel’s famous Iron Dome is clearly intentional. The Israeli system, operational since 2011, served as a model. But Michelangelo Dome goes much further: it is not conceived as a single weapons system, but as a complete architecture supported by artificial intelligence.
” These threats can happen in seconds ,” Cingolani said. “We don’t have enough time to send emails or exchange messages. We have to react in real time.”
At the heart of the project is the belief that AI-augmented command and control systems are no longer optional, but essential for survival. Cingolani explained the doctrinal shift from the rigid, linear kill chain to the distributed, AI-supported kill web , in which numerous sensor data points are analyzed, fused, and evaluated by AI to automatically select the best interception mechanism. However, the final order to open fire remains in human hands, Cingolani emphasized.
The goal is to transform the Italian armed forces, and subsequently those of NATO, into a single, synchronized defense system . Ships, land systems, fighter aircraft, drones, and satellite constellations would channel data into a unified, AI-based platform capable of tracking, predicting, and neutralizing threats in real time.
The alternative, according to Cingolani, is strategic blindness. “If an object is flying at two or three kilometers per second and I don’t know in advance where it will hit in a few minutes, I might already have been hit. I can’t neutralize it,” Aerospace Global News reported.
Cingolani repeatedly emphasized the geographic location: Europe is not protected by oceans. Future hypersonic weapons could reach major capitals in five to seven minutes .
But it’s not just about hypersonic weapons. Cingolani also emphasized that the war in Ukraine has demonstrated how low-cost drones can destroy tanks worth tens of millions. “Young soldiers have rigged half a kilo of explosives on drones connected to commercial satellite networks and neutralized tanks worth 20 million euros ,” he said. Here too, networked systems could help detect and eliminate threats, the Aerospace Global News report continues.
Leonardo positions itself as the only European company with the entire technology stack required to deliver the system: sensors, interception systems, space technology, computing capabilities, artificial intelligence development, and high-performance computing.
Satellites are central to the plan. Rome will build 100 satellites per year, designed for missile warning, infrared smoke detection, and trajectory prediction.
“These satellites must be able to detect an object traveling at five kilometers per second ,” Cingolani said. “Whoever owns these satellites has a detection and prediction capability that no one else has.”
Leonardo will deliver the first systems to Italy by 2026 and integrate existing national systems into the new AI-based architecture. However, this represents only a single defense layer. The company has not specified which layer this will be.
Italy isn’t the only country taking inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome. Turkey is also investing heavily in its integrated, multilayered air defense system, the Steel Dome. And Taiwan, with its T-Dome, has announced plans for its own multilayered air defense system to defend against hostile threats.
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