war in Ukraine
IRIS-T SLM – Germany supplies the best air defense system in the world to protect Kyiv now
IRIS-T: Radar module of a battery
© Diehl Defense / PR
Putin attacks the cities of Ukraine. Now Germany is helping. The IRIS-T SLM air defense system was already promised to Kyiv and is now being delivered. It can protect a whole big city like Kyiv.
Ukraine will get a complete and state-of-the-art air defense system. The IRIS system greatly strengthens Ukraine’s air defenses. It’s not an old shopkeeper from the Cold War, but highly modern. It is capable of blocking airspace over an entire region. This can be a large city, but it can also block airspace over a ground offensive area. It is so modern that not even the Bundeswehr owns a copy. The rapid delivery was only possible because Herrsteller Diehl had already largely completed the system for another customer – Egypt. Egypt agreed to relinquish “its” system and receive a later delivery.
IRIS-T: system of a new generation
IRIS-T SLM was largely developed by the German company Diehl Defence. It was presented for the first time in 2014. Several criteria are noteworthy about the IRIS-T SLM. The first thing to mention is the shape. The air defense is housed in several 60-foot standard containers. In general, there is a trend to house missile weapons in containers. IRIS-T SLM thus works independently of a carrier vehicle. Only light containers need to be transported, for example by plane. They can then be mounted on any truck in the target area. As a result, the system can quickly be used worldwide.
An operational IRIS system consists of at least one launcher with eight missiles each, a 360-degree radar and a command module. It forms a protective bell 25 kilometers high and 40 kilometers in radius. Ukraine will presumably receive a so-called fire unit with three launchers.
Development from the Eurofighter
The actual missiles – IRIS-T SL – are a further development of the air-to-air missile of the Eurofighter. They are very new and are considered one of the best short-range anti-aircraft weapons. The weapons of the IRIS-T family can attack an enemy aircraft from any direction, they do not rely on the favorable firing position behind the enemy. A data connection makes it possible to launch the rockets and only assign them a target as they approach. Defense against low-flying opponents is significantly improved because the missile’s sensors can detect the target from above. Even if the battery’s mother radar can’t see the target.
This is a big step for Ukraine’s air defenses. It has since been decimated and is based on the old Soviet-era weapons. For the Russian jets and helicopters, IRIS-T SLM is a deadly opponent. However, IRIS-T SL can be switched off. It would be defenseless against ballistic missiles or even hypersonic weapons. In addition, the battery should be protected by a close-range defense such as cheetahs. Otherwise, a swarm of small kamikaze drones could easily overcome the missile defenses.