First IRIS-T Air Defense System to Reach Ukraine in October

Ukraine’s military will take delivery of the first IRIS-T SL air defense system from Germany in October.

Anka Feldhusen, German Ambassador to Ukraine, told European Pravda during an interview on Wednesday that Kyiv will receive two IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems by the end of this year, with the first one scheduled to be handed over to Ukraine next month.

“The first system, I hope, will be shipped in October. I really hope that the second system will arrive by the end of this year,” the German Ambassador said.

Two more systems will be shipped in early 2023.

Ukraine signed a contract with the Germany’s Diehl Defense in June to purchase IRIS-T SL systems. The German government will allocate money for the purchase.

The air defense system consists of an IRIS-T (InfraRed Imaging System Tail) missile equipped with infrared guidance. Launchers can have a wheeled (MAN 8×8) or tracked chassis (two-section all-terrain BvS10 vehicle) and contain 4 launchers or 8 containers with missiles.

Modifications of medium and small radius are available. The IRIS-T SLM can hit targets at a distance of up to 40 km, and the “shorter” version of the SLS can reach up to 25 km.

The main sensor of the system is the Australian CEAFAR GBMMR radar with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) 3D radar. German Hensoldt-made TRML-4D radar (Hensoldt) can also be applied in the system, which allows detecting targets at a distance of up to 250 km.